Oh the Possibilities
by Zephyer12
Summary: Louise already knows she is a Void user before summoning Siato, but claiming that your a Void user is heresy and possible execution. Oh the Possibilities. T for later Chapters REWRITING!
1. Chapter 1

Hello Readers! I have become a Zombie! Anyway, I'm going to rewrite this story. Seriously when the POPE was introduced in Season Four, I originally had him as the corrupt, fat (sorry to any and all fat people that are reading this, I do not mean to offend) and pretend to bring '_Holy Justice upon the non-believers!_' and stuff like that. But NO! He turns out to be a Void Mage himself! *sigh*

Oh well! I'll have to change a number of things now, but this thing is just too much fun for me to Rage Quit!_  
_

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When the Tristan Academy of Magic first started, many did not believe it would stay open by the end of the year, let alone become renowned and well-respected. The facility was first built as a frontier fortress, used constantly by travelers, settlers, and adventurers. The land became mapped and the once unknown forest divulged most, if not all, of its secrets.

The travelers moved onward, toward their intended destination. The settlers found the land surrounding the castle unfavorable for growing crops, and moved on. The adventurers that explored the forest left, seeking new lands to explore.

The castle then received new inhabitance. Bandits used the fortress to plan raids while thieves prepared hoists. After all the money that could be stolen or the outlaws were caught, wild animals entered, looking for a suitable place for cubs or kits.

Nature seized the castle next. The walls and buildings became overgrown with vegetation and vines. The added weight caused some building's ceilings to fall in, letting plants and grass grow inside. The castle stayed that way for hundreds of years until a group of four travelers stumbled upon the ruins. They were looking for a suitable place to set up a lab. Each traveler was a noble, each devoted to an element.

Chariovalda de Flanci la Eemil was an influential wind mage. She was researching why the wind moved, and followed wherever it went.

Kam la Adalia de Hari was a powerful fire mage. He wondered why fire was hot and changed color depending on the heat. After a few quarrels with some fellow mages, he pledged to find the answer.

Eutimio von Farid de Gervasius was a prominent earth mage. She experimented with building, trying to find the best material for construction.

Hyosan von Hovolos de Vatten was a thoughtful water mage. He wanted to help people that were injured with his magic and tried to find new ways to heal.

The four researchers repaired the inner buildings. They did not need all of the compound and the grass, plants and the occasional tree presented the lab with a lively feeling.

Over the years several other researchers joined the group. Soon, kids became involved. Shortly afterward, the researchers fixed the rest of the newly founded Academy.

**Tristain Magical Academy **

**Half a year until summoning**

The Tristain Magical Academy library was the second largest in the Founder Region. Possessing original tomes by the Founders of the academy, the library obtained books ranging from plain story books to extensive magical theorems. Louise quickly descended the stairs leading to the first floor. She walked quickly to the servant on duty, planning to check out the book in her arms.

"Excuse me." Louise said.

"Yes my lady?"

"I request this book for a week." Louise pushed the book across the counter.

"One moment." The servant bowed and entered the room behind the check out counter. Louise hated waiting. She was actually very patient, but if she stayed in one place for too long, _those_ came back.

The glances.

The sneers.

The Whispering. That Founder. Be. Damned. _Whispering_! Louise could already hear them starting. Three older students, third year by their blue robs, where all at a table taking in hushed voices and glancing at her.

"_It's _her,_ what is she doing here?"_

"_SHH! She'll hear you!"_

"_Nah, all the explosions probably damaged the Zero's hearing. Were fine."_

"_But still, why is she here. If every spell she casts misfires, isn't it better for her to be married off to anybody and not in danger everybody here?"_

"_Yeah she should just leave. What is her magic affinity anyway?"_

"_I bet she doesn't have one."_

"_But…Then she shouldn't be a noble."_

"_Maybe her parents are from Germania?"_

"_Yeah she isn't a real noble at all"._

Louise clutched her hands and continued to wait. They thought she could not hear them, but she could hear better than most. Louise always had better senses ever since she was little. She overheard the servants talking about all the rumors around the house. She got so confident and arrogant in her eavesdropping; Louise tried to listen in on her mother one time. What she heard was…informative but saddening.

_Flashback_

_Thirteen year old Louise De La Valliere crept to the door of her parents study. They always went inside there and talked about something after her magic lessons. Beside her, Dorin, Louise's only friend besides Cattleya, pushed a cart with tea and two empty cups. Dorin never acted over servanty and ran from the room when they were done with whatever job they had. He always helped anyway he could._

_The plan was simple. Dorin would bring tea in for mother and father and Louise would listen in through the open door. When Dorin left, he would leave the door slightly agar. That way Louise could still hear what was being said._

_They approached the door as planned. Dorin knocked as planned. A stern female voice said, "Enter." Just as planned._

_That's when everything went _**SO** _wrong._

"…_wing up every spell, it would be better to just marry her off. She is useless as a mage." Her mother's voice was as cold as ice as always._

_Louise had to stifle a gasp. She was going to go married off, like Cattleya? But, she could do magic, all her spell just explode._

"_I was a late bloomer, if you remember. I could not perform my first spell until I was 15. Now look at me, a general in Her Majesty's Army. She needs time."_

"_Your spells did not explode every time you cast a spell. She is short, undeveloped and has a temper shorter than the height of a baby Salamander. She is a failure." Mother's words were like individual knives in her heart. Dorin, finished serving to tea, bowed and left, as planned. His face was hard, pushing the cart away with more force then was necessary. When he was outside the room, closing the door, he glanced at Louise, wondering if he should let her continue. _

"_She will perform the Affinity Spell, and if she fails that then we will marry her off."_

"_You know as well as I do that Louise won't be able to do it. A silence spell combined with levitating a small boulder is easier and every time she tried either spell, they exploded. Let's wait until she casts her first spell and then we can try the Affinity Spell."_

_The room was silent for a moment before Mother replied, "Louise is a Noble and will prove she is one. The first thing she could do is stop eavesdropping at the door." _

_Dorin's and Louise's eyes widened in shock. Closing the door all the way, Dorin grabbed Louise and pushed her and the cart away as fast as he could while thinking of a way to keep his Job._

_Louise on the other hand was still trying to figure out two things. One, how did Mother know she was listening? She used that method on the servants and even her sister to proven its effectiveness. Two, what was the Affinity Spell and how could she use it to prove herself to Mother?_

_Flashback end_

Now, two years later, she finally knows what the Affinity Spell is. After two years of searching she FINALLY found it. The servant came back.

"My deepest apologies for the wait, here is you book." He handed Louise one of the last few lifelines she had left. Louise took the book and hurried out of the library.

The Affinity Spell was just what it says, a spell that determined a mages magical affinity. A mage has to draw an alchemy circle with the five magical runes, Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, and Void, inscribed in it and over flow it with ones magic. The affinity of the mage will make one glow.

The only problems were the result of the spell and the amount of power needed.

If the Earth rune glows, then the ground around the circle will shift, crack, and change. The stronger the affinity the more destructive the change.

If the Fire rune glows, then heat will expel form the circle. The stronger the affinity the hotter the heat. Some mages have been known to receive burns form the amount.

If the Water rune glows, any liquids near the circle will be affected in some way. That also including blood. Most mages survive it, but are never the same again.

If the Wind rune glows, the air around the circle distorts. It could be a gentle wind or a tornado. Again the stronger the affinity the stronger the change in the element.

Since the element Void was lost, nobody knows what will be affected by it. But Void was lost so Louise didn't have to worry about that. She could not be a Void user. And simply claiming that you were a Void mage were grounds of blasphemy and possible execution.

A mage had to use a significant amount of power to activate the circle leaving them drained and tired. No other spell can be cast afterword. Some mages even pass out from the strain. Louise would need to get someone to help her in case she passed out.

'_Professor Cobalt is the only teacher that might be able to help but he busy with all the second year students'._ Sighing, she thought, '_It will have to be a student'._ But who could she ask. Anybody she asked would either laugh at her and call her _Zero_ again, or run screaming for help, people would come and then laugh at her and call her _Zero_ again. She could pay someone. Bribing them was more likely to work.

'_Blackmail?'_ That defiantly was a possibility. Now who…?

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"…You promise not to tell Montmorency?" Guiche said in a hushed tone, sweating slightly at the idea of getting caught.

Louise looked up from the completed Alchemy circle and glared at Guiche. "Yes. For the last time, I promise not to tell Montmorency about your two-timing. But if you ask again, I will tell her. So, please, for the Founder, shut up before you wake up the entire school."

Guiche, wisely, shut up.

Louise could not use the circle during the day of course. She didn't even want to think what people would assume and say. So, the night was a _very_ close friend right now. The Boarding School was also very old. So old in fact, that there were a number of unused classrooms on the first floor next to the dorms building.

"All you have to do is make sure I'm safe and to see which element lights up." Louise said hastily, not wanting to wait any longer. Guiche, coming down a little, just grunted and leaned against the far wall.

Breathing slowly, Louise closed her eyes and raised her want slowly until it was pointing straight up to the ceiling. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de la Vallière, mage of the Pentagon of the Five Elements." Snapping her eyes open, Louise thrust her wand down to point at the circle, as planned. "Fill this holy circle with magic and display my element!" She whisper shouted at the end, activating the circle as planned.

Nothing happened.

Louise wasn't feeling anything. Not because she was numb with shock. She literally couldn't feel anything. Louise tried to call to Guiche for help, but found her voice wasn't working.

Guiche did not have the same limitations, and stared open mouthed at Louise. It was true. Louise really is a zero. Without an affinity, she couldn't cast magic, meaning she wasn't a mage. Guiche felt two emotions at once. One, he felt pity. Louise tried very hard to prove herself. Now, by her own attempts, she proved herself to be a zero. The other was anger. Not at Louise, but at all the people that ever picked one her, including himself. She tries HARDER than anybody else, and now it's all worthless.

Guiche was so wrapped up in his thoughts; he almost missed the black mist forming around the circle.

Key word: _almost_.

He stepped closer to have a look. _'What is that? Is this wind?'_ But wind didn't have color so that was out. The mist swirled around the circle and outward. The single torch in the entire room flickered as the mist approached, sputtered, and died, plunging the room into darkness except for the dim light of the moon. That's when Louise and Guiche both saw it.

A dim purple light.

Coming from the in front of Louise.

'_The Void Element!'_ Both Guiche and Louise thought at the same time. Now even if Louise couldn't move she wouldn't have. _VOID!_ She must have made another mistake, she couldn't be. Only the founder was a void user and even claiming she was would have everybody call her a blasphemer and executed. She would have screamed if she could.

Guiche was again thinking along similar lines, except he wasn't bound by the circle.

"_**WHAAAAAAAAAA!**_"

Loud bangs would be heard above Louise and Guiche as students woke up and probably rolled out of bed.

Foot-steps would be heard running down

The door would open.

_Everybody_ _would_ _see._

That was what was supposed to happen. Fortunately or not, it didn't. No bangs, no footsteps. The door did open though.

Louise, still frozen, could not see who it was.

Guiche, still unfrozen could. "Tabitha!?" He squeaked.

Tabitha just stared at the scene in front of her, first looking at the shocked and slightly scared look on Guiche's face. Next, she looked at the back of Louise noticing that she was not tense at all. Strange. Tabitha thought that she would be surprised that someone knew that this was happening. But no, she was standing tall, almost uncaring or proud.

The mist surrounding the circle shifted. Tendrils of complete blackness drifted toward the light form the open door, right for Tabitha. Tabitha, being who she is, moved out of the way and raised her staff, prepared to defend herself if needs be.

But the mist, if it can be called that, didn't stop in its path. Reaching the door, it lifted itself up and surrounded the thin block of wood. The door seemed to absorb the mist.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the door just dissolved, leaving the black mist behind. The mist then went to the doorframe, formed, matching the frame precisely, and reshaped back into the door.

With the door back in the frame, the room was dark again. With no other light source besides the window, Tabitha finally noticed the dim purple light of the Void rune glowing. Needless to say, she was as shocked as Guiche, fortunately with more control. That being said, Tabitha's eyes bulged, her mouth hung open and she nearly dropped her staff.

The light from the rune pulsed once and glowed brighter. The mist began to loop around the circle spinning higher and higher, until it formed a wall of mist taller than Louise. Louise, still trapped, could only watch in growing fear of the mist tighten the spinning circle, slowly moving toward her.

Guiche lunged forward, remembering the door disappearing. Tabitha raised her staff and used a wind spell to try and clear the way for Guiche. The mist didn't move. Guiche reached the mist and slammed right into _a piece of wood_?

'_What!_' Louise, Tabitha and Guiche thought at the same time.

It's true. Founder. Be. Damned. WOOD!

The wood dissipated into mist still swirling and moving toward Louise, it was half way there already! Guiche, starting to get desperate, raised his wand and summand one of his prized Valkyrie, armed with a club.

The Valkyrie swung at the mist. The wood appeared again, shattering but forcing the club back. The wood, now broken, dissolved back into mist. Guiche thinking he found the answer to save Louise, formed more Valkyrie with axes and stationed them around the mist, all swinging, trying to clear a path. Wood kept appearing to block the axes but Guiche was glad to be making some progress.

Tabitha, watching, formed one icicle. Taking aim she waited for a Valkyrie in front of her to break the wood again. Just as the wood dissolved, Tabitha sent the icicle soaring through the dissolving wood. The icicle was stopped by the mist itself. And, like the door, some mist entered the icicle.

'_Oh Founder!_' Tabitha and Guiche thought at the same time. If the door, which was made of wood, was used as a shield of sorts, and an ice spike was decently not used for defensive purposes, then only one thing could happen right now. Guiche jumped back and made a wall of dirt. Tabitha jumped behind it as well reinforcing the wall with ice as she went. Just in time to as _very sharp_ icicles were shot at the Valkyrie destroying them all instantly.

While all this was happening, the mist reached the still frozen Louise. Instead of completely smothering her, the mist pooled at her feet and ascended at an incredible rate. Louise, well passed panicking, was furiously trying to move.

When the wood first appeared, the mist was well past her stomach. When the Valkyries were summoned, Louise's head was still visible. When the ice spicks were shot out, destroying all the Valkyrie, the mist swallowed Louise whole. Inside the tomb of mist, symbols began to form in a flash of white and form different images: fire, a door, an icicle, a table, an ink well, paper, a set of books, a shelf, window, wall of stone then one of dirt and ice. The images just kept coming. When one appeared, knowledge of the item was shoved into Louise's head, everything about the item, suddenly forcing itself inside, forcing Louise to learn every aspect and capability.

On the outside, the mist began to glow purple growing brighter and brighter. Tables pushed to the back of the classroom began to dissolve, ink wells and paper dissolving. Books and shelves dissolved as well. The window on the wall burst and dissolved and the wall also began to dissolve.

The wall blocking the light from Tabitha and Guiche also began to dissolve. Guiche panicking made another wall. Tabitha reinforced it with ice. They continued that until seven walls were formed between them and the light.

Inside, Louise's head wanted to explode, but all the knowledge she was learning sorted itself out and great clarity about the world, mysteries that would have stumped Louise became clear. Understanding of the elements and the amount of power needed to use each spell and why all of Louise's spells exploded had such a simple answer, she would have hit herself if she could.

Answer: too much Founder. Be. Damned. Power. was being used in her spells.

On the outside, the fifth wall was dissolving when the light finally began to dim. The broken window/wall letting in moonlight. Tabitha and Guiche peeked out from behind the seventh wall, finally able to see what was left of the room. Everything that was in the light was dissolved leaving half of a chair, a table leg, the wall erected to protect Guiche and Tabitha, and a few pages on the ground. In the middle of it all, Louise became visible _as the mist went inside her!_

On the verge on passing out because of how fast his heart was beating, Guiche ran over to Louise, catching her as she fell. Tabitha followed a little more cautiously examining the circle to make sure it didn't have any residual magic left. Then she cast a spell to detect any foreign magic inside Louise. If it could be detected then Louise might be saved from whatever that mist was. When the scan was complete, the foreign magic inside her body would glow. Not very surprisingly, when the scan finished, nothing happened. Nothing seemed to be going as planned tonight.

Guiche let out a sigh. "She's still breathing." Guiche lifted Louise off the floor and carried her bridal style to the door. Tabitha again followed after getting rid of the circle and fixing the wall and window. The door creaked open slowly, Tabitha and Guiche looked left and right. Nobody was there.

"Founder, were lucky nobody heard that." Guiche said, surprised that nobody heard or felt anything. They were not actually trying to be quiet.

"Silence spell." Tabitha simply stated.

"Not much for words are you?" Guiche adjusted Louise in his arms, trying not to wake her.

"…" Tabitha and Guiche started down the hallway to the dorms. Guiche tried to be as silent as possible so he wasn't moving very fast. Tabitha glanced back at him for a second, and cast another silence spell on their feet.

"Thanks." Guiche nodded, catching up. "So…" Guiche started. If he didn't talk about this, he might just go mad. "Louise's a Void user and everybody called her a Zero. If this was a story, I would have complimented the foreshadowing."

"…"

"…"

"…This also explains her explosions. But all the Void spells were lost along with the element. I plan to go to the library and try to look for spells, what are you going to do?"

"…be discreet." Tabitha simply stated.

"Why? Louise's affinity is Void, we have proof. Shouldn't we tell peo…Oh, never mind." If Guiche told people, the followers of the Founder, which was _everybody_, would accuse them of Heresy. At best, they would all be denounced as nobles and forced to live out on the street. At worst, burned alive. Besides, who would believe them anyway?

They walked quietly for a while. When the stairs to the dorms came into view Guiche said, "Still, are you going to do anything?"

"…research tomorrow, after dinner." Tabitha looked at Guiche.

"I'll meet you at the library, anything we find let's bring to the class room. Agreed?" Guiche stated, turning to meet Tabitha.

"Agreed."

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Please Reveiw...**MangamanZX!** If you still reading this I have not given up on the Stars! =3


	2. Just a litte

**Tristain Magical Academy **

**Half a year until summoning**

When the sun rose over the Academy, nobody was the wiser about the events that transpired last night. Everything was the way it should be: birds were chirping, squirrels were running around, and the students/teachers were all making their way to the dining hall for breakfast.

A little girl was the odd one out. Again.

"…Uh…" Louise groaned slowly sitting up in her bed. She had a killer head-ache, barely able to think at all. Looking around, Louise tried to think of how she got there. She remembered being in a room with Guiche and activating the affinity circle but…? That's it. She couldn't remember anything else.

'_Was it a dream?_' No. She preformed the spell that much was clear. But what happened after that?

Groaning again, she forced herself out of bed. Her head protested violently, demanding she sit down and sleep the day away. But, she was a Valliere. Vallieres did **not** skip class. Louise did skip breakfast though, not even close to being in the mode to eat.

Struggling to fix her stockings, Louise grabbed her wand and went to her first class, subconsciously rubbing her head.

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Guiche acted like he normally would, fear keeping him form two timing, for he know that if his involvement with Louise ever got out in the public, Louise's life wasn't the only one that was going to end, and he be _damned_ if he didn't live life to the fullest. But could he really keep this under wraps?

"Guiche, are you listening to me?" Montmorency said.

The pressure of keeping the secret as big as this began to build. "I'm sorry my sweet, I am simply remembering the time we were discussing Familiars. You know, when I predicted the water dragon you would summon?" Guiche's neck started to sweat slightly as Montmorency leaned in close, her eyes squinting.

Guiche unable to keep eye contact looked away for a second.

That's all the proof Montmorency needed to see to know something was up. But, being the irrational teenager she was, jumped to, in a way, the wrong conclusion.

"Where were you last night?" Montmorency whispered between clenched teeth.

"I was in my bed sleeping, dreaming about how your beauty dwarfed the morning star!" Guiche proclaimed quickly, coming up with the compliment on the spot. Montmorency always liked flattery. And it seemed to work. Montmorency didn't look like she was about to explode with rage anymore. Instead an almost evil glint appeared in her left eye.

"Fine, then you won't mind treating me to dinner in your room tonight would you?" Montmorency asked sweetly. Of course this was a front. If he said yes, she would search his room for evidence of any two-timing. If he said no, she would dump him right then and there.

Guiche paled. He would be in the classroom, working with Tabitha and Louise on spells. Should he stay with Montmorency instead, or uphold his word? He couldn't tell her the truth, the necklace with the Founder's symbol was around her neck and two blessed bead bracelets were on both wrists was proof of that. She would drown him if he said the truth. But, this was more important right?

While Guiche was in the middle of his inner dilemma, Montmorency was getting angrier for every second that didn't have a reply. Deciding she had enough, the answer was chosen for him. A loud _SLAP_ echoed in the empty corridor.

Guiche stunned out of his thoughts, cupped his cheek and looked at Montmorency. '_Wha…?_' was all the time he had to think before Montmorency exploded.

"YOU'RE TWO-TIMING!" Rage filled Montmorency's voice, her wand appearing in her and. With a jab of the wrist, a jet of water shot out, hitting Guiche in the face. Guiche stumbled back, wiping water out of his eyes. He heard footsteps running away. Guiche prepared to call out to Montmorency. When he finally found his voice, the fall was empty. Realizing the attempt to win her back was futile; Guiche lowered his head, water still dripping off.

Guiche berated himself. He _KNEW_ this was going to happen if he was found out. Guiche started walking toward the dining hall; even dumped people need to eat. '_I could meet up with Tabitha and then go to the library._' Classes would be held with Montmorency and she needed time to cool down.

Guiche suddenly realizing that Montmorency would be at the dining hall as well. '_She's probably there already, telling her friends about me. Walking in to get Tabitha would just give Montmorency all the proof she needs to confirm her accusations._' With that morbid thought in mind, he changed course, heading to the library instead. He didn't feel like going to breakfast anymore or going to class for that matter. With a sad smile on his face, he prepared himself for a day of hitting the books.

'_Montmorency always told me I should study more._'

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Tabitha was her usual quiet self. She was in the dining hall eating breakfast, acting like nothing happened. However, she was having a harder time keeping the previous nights events a secret. Why?

Kirche of course.

"Come oooooonnnnnn. What happened? You can trust me. You of all people know I can keep a secret!" That's she did. Tabitha did trust Kirche more than anybody. But could she trust her with this? An honest to Founder secret that would get her killed if she knew? Thinking about it a little, Tabitha decided that the less people know about it the better.

The doors to the hall burst open. Everybody stopped to look at what was going on. Standing in the door way, breathing heavily, was Montmorency. Her face was flushed and looked to be on the verge of tears. Stomping over to a table, she took her place and started whispering to the girl in front of her. The girl's eyes widened and whispered to the girl on her right. Soon everybody was talking again.

"…" Tabitha continued to eat her breakfast and read her book silently. Kirche wasn't deterred from were quest to find out what happened.

"Come ooooooooonnnnnnnnnn. Louise was going to find out her affinity. You told me that much last night. What happened?" Tabitha thought back to what happened last night, remembering what Guiche said.

'_So…Louise's a Void user and everybody called her a Zero. If this was a story, I would have complimented the foreshadowing.'_

"…nothing happened." It was true, void, which was also 'nothing' in a sense, happened last night.

"Ehh! You mean Louise doesn't have an affinity?!" Kirche almost screeched.

A. Little. _**TOO**_. Loud.

The chatter in the dining hall suddenly ceased, except for the clatter of silverware hitting the table. Every single head turned sharply to the center of the disturbance. Even the teachers stopped their chatter to stare at Kirche.

"…" Tabitha quietly closed her book. She looked left and right, thinking of a way to do damage control. Then again this could be the best thing to have happened. With everybody believing the wrong think, nobody would be looking for the truth. Although, what she saw because of the shout saddened her a little.

Kirche looked ashamed at speaking to loudly. She hadn't meant to do that, Tabitha knew that much. Kirche was actually a very good and caring friend, if you can get past her body. The students were whispering furiously left and right. That was normal. Who wouldn't be talking about what they just learned. The teachers on the other hand, some were nodding as if they always knew that.

Bastards.

Others though were looking shocked, wanting to deny it. Professor Colbert was the most depressed looking from the news. The Headmaster Osmond was in second place to the depression look. Tabitha made a note of those two, planning to do something nice later.

Tabitha looked back at Kirche, an idea forming in her mind. Casting a small wind spell so everybody could hear her she stated before walking way, "…No."

"EHH! But Kirche said that the _Zero_ doesn't have an affinity, it must be true." A boy yelled at Tabitha's retreating back.

"Yeah! She isn't a Magic! She's a commoner!" Another boy also shouted.

Tabitha would have normally worried in situations like this. Course, Louise was involved, even indirectly. And _**NOTHING**_ goes normally when Louise's involved. Headmaster Osmond abruptly stood.

"_**SILENCE!**_" Speak and thou shalt have. Everybody in the hall, Tabitha included, stopped whatever they were doing and turned to face the headmaster. Teachers looking shocked that the '_rickety_' old man could shout with suck volume. Students here a little afraid of what the Headmaster would do. They were not disappointed.

"_**Louise **__**Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière is a student of this ACADEMY. This ACADEMY is filled with the best nobles around the world, NOT some SPOILED BRATS! You WILL act according to YOUR STATUS or you WILL BE EXPELLED!**_" The students became paler and paler, the longer the speech went on, some even fell out of their seats and wet them-selves. The teachers that weren't covering their ears or hiding under the table, looked just as fiercely at the students, backing every word out of their Headmasters mouth. Osmond, still fuming at the actions of the students, turned and stormed out of the hall, slamming the teacher's door shut. All the students in the hall started talking all at once.

"What just happened?!"

"Are we really going to be expelled?!"

"He wants use to treat that _commoner_ as an equal?!"

Tabitha had to restrain herself on that last coherent comment in all the noise in the hall. Casting a dot level wind spell for communication, she talked to Kirche.

"…coming?"

Kirche, having talked to the quiet girl this way before, said, "Tabitha! I didn't mean to say that! Why doesn't Louise have an element?! She's a Mage! Shou…" Tabitha ended the spell. Instead she just flicked her staff and raised her book a little, a small signal to Kirche.

'_To the Library_'

Kirche nodded, getting up from the table. They both left the hall behind.

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After everything in the hall subsided, everybody moved to their respective class rooms. The students were still talking about what happened in the hall. Most were afraid to even speak about it again, but the more arrogant ones started calling out Osmond's threat, claiming that he was bluffing. Colbert quickly silenced these people. He wouldn't be able to change their minds, but he could stop them from spreading the call and either getting expelled, making Louise's life harder than it already was, or both.

Reaching the classrooms, Louise's class found her sitting in her normal desk, middle left toward the back. She had her head on the table, rubbing her temples in slow circles.

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Louise's head was killing her. Since she woke up, her headache had only got worse. She'd been laying her head down massaging her temples to try and ease the pain. For the past thirty minutes, she stayed there trying to sort out the events of last night. It frustrated her to no end; she finished the circle, cast the spell and then just _blackness_. The strangest thing was that the _blackness_ seemed to be moving, twirling, twisting, and_ changing_? But that didn't make sense.

'_What happened last night?!_' Louise thought for the thousandth time that morning.

Hearing the door open, she knew that class was about to begin. Good she'd slip a note to Guiche telling him to go to the library after class. Louise wanted answers.

Looking up from the desk, she waited for the dumb blond to enter. When he didn't, Louise became a little annoyed.

'_Stupid headache and stupid Guiche. One stays when I don't want it and the other is nowhere to be found._' Shutting out the world she put her head back down and rubbed it some more. Because of this, she didn't see the glares directed her way. Since she wasn't listening, she couldn't hear the murmuring around the room.

'_There she is again, damn commoner._'

'_She isn't a mage. She needs to go._'

'_Let's just levitate her away._'

Fortunately, before the students could act, Colbert walked in. Instead of having a smile on his face, he looked stern and unforgiving. Everybody quickly found their seats. Colbert took role, noting that Tabitha, Kirche and Guiche weren't in class.

"Today in class, we will be practicing a dot level fire spell, lighting a candle with magic." Raising his staff, he lifted the candles on his desk and levitated them to each student in front of him. Raising his staff again, he closed the shades on most of the windows until one in the back of the class was only half open. Every student took out his or her wand. Louise did so with her head still down.

"Louise, are you alright?" Professor Colbert asked. She always had her note book with ink and quill ready.

"Yes, I'm alright." Louise said into the desk.

"If you need to go to the nurse, you can."

"I'm alright."

"You sure?"

Louise was about to get snappish with the Professor, when she actually stopped and thought about it. Getting some medicine for the headache might help her think clearly, then she could go find Guiche and get some answers. But, there was class to consider as well.

"I'll try the spell, and then go to the nurses. Is that ok, Professor?"

"Yes. To perform the spell, imagine the flame inside you. Raise your wand when you're ready and push that flame into your wand. Direct the flame to the candle after that. It should light."

Louise didn't even pick her head up, just skipped to the flicking of the wrist. The spell would just explode anyway. After the useless hand gesture, Louise got up, and proceeded to the door, still rubbing her head. She wasn't paying attention to anything, what little of her mind that wasn't in pain focused of getting to the nurse.

If she had been paying attention, she would have notice the absence of any sound. She would have heard the "Good Job!" form Colbert. She would have noticed the small candle on her desk burning softly, emitting a soothing glow. Heat, unlike any anybody felt before, could be felt from the small flame. The student's muscles relaxed. Signing, half the class was content to just stare at it, the other half wanted to put their heads down and go to sleep.

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HELLO Readers, Please review.

Thank you _**Zaralann**_ and _**Nightraze**_ for the reviews Your Awesome.


	3. WHAAAA!

**Tristain Magical Academy **

**Half a year until summoning**

Guiche was in the library, toward the back. On a round table to the back corner, several books were stacked; some were open and notes were scattered around. He was a bit of a mess. His hair was messy, the blond curls covering the top of his ears, the back of his neck and his forehead. His coat was on a chair and his shirt was un-tucked. Yet, he seemed more mature looking like a working man, instead of a noble.

That's how Tabitha and Kirche found him, standing over some books and writing something down.

"…Guiche." Tabitha whispered, but it didn't matter that she was too far to be normally heard. Nobody was in the library except a maid in the reception desk but it looked like she was reading her book so intensely, Tabitha doubted she even knew they were there.

"Tabitha." Guiche said to the book, not stopping in his note taking. He knew she would come and not tell anybody they were there. In the short time he knew her, Guiche had grown to trust Tabitha completely. She wouldn't act on something unless she had a very good reason.

"What are you reading?" Kirche said. So much for completely trusting.

Guiche stiffened, dropping the quill in his hand. Turning sharply, he spotted Kirche standing a little behind Tabitha. '_Time to find out that reason._' It better be a damn good one.

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"Let me see if I understand this: Kirche practically shouted out that Louise didn't have an affinity." Kirche winced that the statement, still feeling a little bad about it. Guiche continued. "And thinking that the best way to do damage control, you got the Headmaster to threaten the entire school into silence about the topic. Am I right so far?" Tabitha and Kirche nodded both with a book of their own now. "You also decided to bring in Kirche because you personally trust her and she has a fire affinity, while I have earth and you have wind."

"So, now you think the best way to proceed is to get Louise here somehow." More nodding.

"…I wasn't in the dining hall, so I can't criticize your actions. Now getting Louise here, we could have Kirche go get Louise by telling Professor Colbert that the Headmaster wishes to speak with her. It would seem that the Headmaster is still dealing with the situation, while keeping the students in the dark." Guiche said, looking at the ceiling, his hand on his chin.

Kirche looked up from the book she had in front of her. "But what if the Headmaster really wants to see Louise and she's not in class?"

"…go…" Tabitha simply stated.

"Tabitha's right, she'll have to go." Guiche said, frowning a little. Keeping this secret was becoming harder and harder.

Tabitha turned a page in her book, jotting something down. "…good…"

Kirche looked thoughtful. "Yeah, if we get the headmaster to know and accept the truth, everything would be easier. We could even have access to the higher level magic books."

"But can we trust him? He may have shouted at the school because they were accusing Louise of being a commoner, but if he learns that Louise is a void mage, will he still be willing?" Guiche asked closing the book in front of him. He got all the information he could out of it. Taking another, he continued. "We can't perform the spell again, once was dangerous enough."

"It may be the only choice we have to convince people." Kirche was starting to get a headache from all this secrecy.

"…get Louise."

"Yeah, she should be here also. This is her life were discussing." Guiche said, copying a sentence form a book.

"And ours. I'll be right back." Kirche stood and left.

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The halls were empty, void of all life. Who was the odd one out?

Louise wasn't thinking about where she was going, just walking forward. The headache dimed a little, but it was still pounding. Louise lost herself in the motion of just walking one foot in front of the other. Random and radical thoughts flouted around in her head, some becoming clear enough to understand.

An alchemy circle, showing the way to turn coal into diamonds.

Knowledge on how to cast an ice spike was floating around.

And something about wood kept coming back.

Louise hand came up to rub her head. What was this? Pieces of _Coal_ into _diamonds_? Only square class earth mages could do that and not much else afterward. _Ice spikes_? She wasn't even a dot, so how could she cast a line level spell. _Wood_; that wasn't even an element, what could be done with it?

"…Louise." A voice said behind her. Louise turned slowly; Kirche was behind her. Just great.

"What do you want Zerbst?"

"Tabitha and Guiche are in the library, I was sent to get you. Actually I was going to pretend to be getting you for the Headmaster, but this is faster." Kirche said. Guiche was in the library? With Tabitha? That didn't matter though, Guiche had answers and he was in the Library.

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Back in the library, Kirche and Louise found Tabitha at the round table. "Where's Guiche?" were Louise's first words of greeting. Speech of the devil and he shalt appear.

"Louise." Guiche came from an isle with two books stuffed with paper. Pulling up a seat, Guiche placed the books on the table. Kirche took the seat opposite Guiche. Tabitha was in the seat facing the door to the library. Louise took the last seat.

Putting her elbow on the table and resting her head on it, she wasted no time in starting the interrogation.

"Guiche, start talking. Now."

"Where to begin?" Guiche was actually didn't know. How does a person normally deal with a secret that would literally kill you if it got out?

"What happened last night?"

"You don't know?" Kirche said in disbelief. How could she forget about that?

The pressure of not knowing what happened last night, coupled with the headache, the weird looks she gets from people every day, and being a '_Zero_', when Louise knew SOMETHING happened last night, finally got to her.

I.e. she snapped.

"**NO! I don't know what happened! I can't do magic! Nobody believes in me! I can't remember what happened last night! I have a MASSIVE headache, and the YOU, Guiche, know what element I have!**"

"OK, OK, Come down!" Kirche said quickly, looking around to see if anybody heard that little rant. To her horror, several students were a few tables away, whispering and glancing at them occasionally.

"Don't worry. Tabitha put up a silence spell. All they will hear are whispers if and when we start yelling." Guiche said. Kirche visibly calmed down. Turning back to Louise, he said, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Activating the circle, then blackness."

"Right, after you cast the spell, nothing happened _AT FIRST_!" Guiche quickly said in order to continue. He didn't want any interruptions. "A black mist appeared. This mist was nothing like anything I've ever seen. Whatever it touched dissolved, but that isn't the most interesting part of your circle."

"Tabitha, can you reinforce the silence spell please." Tabitha raised her staff in response and waved it. Pausing in the spell, she looked at Louise. After some thought, she waved it again.

"Thank you. Louise, here, look at this." He opened one of the books he brought and turning it to face Louise; he pushed it into the center of the table.

"Read the right page, second paragraph."

Louise looked at the book: _The Founder used his holy magic to summon a curse on his enemies. The most common took the form of a black mist. This mist dissolved anything it touched, be it magical or physical. The most interesting aspect of the curse is the benefits it brought to the Founder. Whatever was dissolved could then be used my him; anything from wood to dragon scales to the greatest of fires, ALL was dissolved and learned. Some specu…_" Louise finally got what Guiche was saying. She paled and nearly choked on air.

Her mind was filled with one word. '_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAA!_'

When she finally found her voice, it was filled with the same thing. Penny for your thoughts?

"_**WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAA!**_"

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Beatrice Yvonne von Guldenhorf wasn't the most unique girl around. She wasn't common either. If a person took the looks of every average girl and mixed the average personality.

Except for her popularity anxiety.

If people weren't talking about her, she would bitch about it until she became more popular or tore the more popular person to shreds.

Could you guess her reaction to the news of Louise not having an affinity mixed with the candle? She was pissed.

"Damn her and her candles, I'm still better than her. Even _Zero's_ can get lucky." She huffed under her breath while entering the library.

"I'm better at magic than her. I'm sexier than her. I should be more popular than her."

Huffing again, Beatrice quietly, it was still a library after all, stormed over to her favorite section of the library: Founder Knowledge.

She was fascinated by the Founder and by the Void element. No because he defeated the elves and lead the Humans to safety. Not even because of her religion did she practically love the Founder. Can you guess?

Popularity. Duh.

'_Where is it?_' The book she was looking for was called _Founder: Holy Hero_. It told of all the battles and quest the Founder ever accomplished, gaining fame along the way. It always relaxed her when life seemed hard. Reaching the spot where the book should be, she found a hole instead.

'_Damn, someone checked it out_.' Turning around, she walked over to the receptionist's desk. A maid was there reading a book. She could at least find out who has it.

"You, maid."

"…"

"Hellooooo."

"…"

"HEY!"

"AAaa!" The maid dropped her book. Spotting Beatrice, she bowed and said in a hurried voice, that also had a touch of fear, "My deepest apologies! What can I do for you?"

"I want to know who checked out the book, _Founder: Holy Hero_." No need to wash any more time here.

"One moment, please." The maid turned around and looked at a list of checked out books. Her face paled a little as she reached the end.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have a record of that book being checked out. Perhaps it is still here, being read by someone else."

"Or, you were being lazy. I was standing here for almost a minute before yelling to get your attention." Great. Just great. If she could not read to come down, she would put someone down.

The maid bowed. "Again, my deepest apologies. I lost myself in the book."

"What is your name, commoner?"

"Siesta, my lord." Siesta was a more than a little afraid now. When a noble asks for a commoners name, it's because the commoner either did something of great importance or great annoyance, and the noble wanted to remember that commoner for either a reward of punishment.

"I will remember you, commoner." With that, Beatrice turned and left the maid to her fears.

She still wished to find the book, and taking the maids suggestion, started to search the library. After several minutes, she was going to give up when _she_ was spotted. Louise was sitting at a round table with three other people.

She knew Kirche. A girl with her body would be popular with everybody in the school. Had an uppity spirit and loved to swing her chest around. But, right now she seemed docile.

She knew Tabitha. That girl was quiet and tried not to bring attention to herself which was a double thumbs up in Beatrice's book. But she was so good at magic that the she was popular with the teachers and students because she was one of the few triangle mage students here. And she is a first year to boot. She was acting according to rumor.

She knew Guiche. He was a two-timing pretty boy that didn't like to get his hands dirty, or so say other girls. He was talked about, thought rudely, by most of the girl students in the academy. So much so, that Beatrice considered it popularity. But, his hair was messy, outlining his neck, the tip of his ear and forehead. His shirt was un-tucked and his jacket was on the back of his chair. He actually looked pretty good like that.

Then there was Louise. She had her back to her so she couldn't see her face but that pink hair only belonged to one person. She was the most annoying of all. Kirche shouting that Louise didn't have an affinity got most of the boy population to believe it blindly, so when she cast a dot fire spell, it was like a slap to the face for the students. Not only that; the _nature_ of the candle was weird. Many believed it to be a new spell made by Louise.

Now it looked like Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche had a hand in it. Looking more closely she saw that several books were on the table. One of them was _Founder: Holy Hero_!

She wanted that book.

Beatrice started to walk over. She could see their mouths moving but couldn't hear anything. One of them must of put up a silence spell for privacy.

Tabitha noticed her approaching.

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"…someone…" was all Tabitha said.

Kirche immediately changed subjects.

"I was reading this book," she pointed at one, "and it said the Founder used a curse and some men to defeat the elves at Dieudonne, but in this one," she pointed at another, "it states that an army was used." Pointing to _Founder: Holy _Hero, she said, "In THIS ONE, no army is said to be used. Two say yes to men and one no. Which is it?"

"Well, since two say that there is and one isn't, then it's more like to be yes, since two say yes. But the size of the army that helped the Founder may have been exaggerated."

Beatrice reached the table "Excuse me. Can I have that book please?" She pointed at _Founder: Holy Hero_. Guiche took the pages out of the book. Beatrice glanced at them. What little she saw was about some black mist.

"Here you go."

"Thanks." Beatrice walked away. '_Black mist?_' That was the Founder's favorite curse. Why would Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche and _Her_ want to know about black mist?

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Louise let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. This was becoming more dangerous than it already was. _Her_? Why did she have Void? When her life was about to be turned around, instead, it plummets even further. And she crashed through rock bottom ages ago. How could her life get any worse?

"That was close." Guiche said. "Let's end it here for now. Meet you guys at the classroom tonight?"

"Sure. I planned to meet Styx tonight but forget that, this is more interesting." Kirche said. Winking, she turned to Tabitha. "You coming?"

Tabitha nodded. Kirche turned back to Louise and Guiche. "See you guys tonight then." Tabitha and Kirche left after that. Louise and Guiche stayed to clean up some more and return all the books to the shelves. Guiche took all the pages of notes he had collected and put them in a book he was carrying under his arm.

"Well, see you tonight Louise." Guiche was about to leave when a hand stopped him. Turning back he saw Louise staring wide eyed at him. Her jaw was hanging out a little as well. "Louise?"

Louise took in a shuddering breath and exhaled _black mist_! Her eyes rolled upward and _ink black_ began to cover the white. Her knees buckled. "Louise!"Guiche dropped the book, the papers inside scattering everywhere, he reached for her, catching her before she fell.

"Hey Louise! Walk up!"

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Siesta picked up her book after she checked out the book the mean noble wanted and the after the noble left. She was about to start reading again when two noble came up to her.

"Excuse me, but I would like to check this out please." A girl with really dark skin and a big bust asked, handing Siesta two books.

"Of, Course." Siesta put her book down and wrote the serial number of the two books down. "What is your name please?"

"Kirche de la Zerbst." Siesta wrote that down too and handed the books back.

"Thank you and have a nice day." Kirche smiled, turned and left with a blue haired girl behind her. Siesta was about to read her book again when she heard a scream, "Louise!" Almost screaming herself she put her book down and went to tell the two noble to be quiet in the library.

She didn't expect to see what she saw.

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Guiche was desperately trying to think of something to do. Louise was pass out in his arms and black mist was drifting out of her mouth. The mist stopped moving, turned, and started drifting almost lazily towards Guiche. He did the only thing he could do. He put Louise down gently, he was a gentleman after all, and pulled out his want. The mist, from what he read would absorb any knowledge that was in darkness, and wouldn't stop until the caster canceled the spell or there was no more knowledge to get from the night.

Raising his wand, he made a cast a spell. Earth, erupted from the floor, covering Louise and the dropped book and papers. Right after he finished casting the spell, a maid walked in.

"Plea...!" Whatever she was going to say died on her lips when she saw the dome. Instead she said, "Please refrain from using magic in the library, the books are delicate."

Guiche was calm on the outside. Inside, he was desperately trying to come up with a way to excuse the dome. Thinking fast he said, "I am sorry, but a matter of importance came up and the dome was needed. I will remove it and fix the floor when it is done." The maid nodded and left.

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'_Matter of importance_?' What could be so important in a library? Siesta's curiosity was going to get her in trouble someday, she knew that, but for now hiding behind the book shelf and having a peek seemed like a great idea.

Siesta waited there, at the end of the hall for several minutes until something happened. The boy raised his want and dismissed the spell. The earth retreated into the floor, repairing it as it went, but that wasn't what got her caught, it was gasping loudly at the _girl_ inside the dome! The boy spun quickly and spotted her. Thrusting his wand, Siesta found herself being lifted into the air. She tried to scream, but another flick and her voice was gone.

She could only watch in growing horror as she was levitated towards the boy.

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Guiche levitated the maid toward him. '_Great. A witness._' He noted that it was the same maid as before. Trying to calm her down, he said, "Listen, I can see how this looks, but my friend, Louise, has, um, a condition that, um, cases her to spasm. The only way to make her stop would be to knock her out. I couldn't get close so I made the dome to holder her until she lost consciousness. There were air holes in it, I promise. Please, don't yell. Louise doesn't want people to know about it."

The maid, instead of looking relieved, had a look of quiet acceptance, like she knew she would have to listen and not say anything because of whom she was and who he was.

Guiche never saw the two pairs of eyes spying on him from the end of an aisle.

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Yes! It's Done! Enjoy and please REVIEW! And a special thanks to **Zaralann**. He/She was the first person to leave a review.

Now, I HAVE to do my homework.


	4. Servants, Secrets and Broken Hearts

The only problem about writing something first is that I can't copy/steal any ideas off of other works. Homework is beginning to pile up and I have colleges to apply to as well. Weekly updates for now.

**Tristain Magical Academy **

**Half a year until summoning**

Montmorency left the classroom feeling energized because of Louise's candle. She felt bad about all the times she insulted her, true; but that soothing heat really pushed up her spirits. So much so, that she was willing to forgive Guiche for his two-timing with whomever he was two-timing with, but she could do that later.

Right now, she wanted to find that book on skin-care potions and try them out.

Entering the library, she proceeded to the potion section. After several minutes of searching, Montmorency heard a yell, "Louise!"

'_That was Guiche_?' What was he doing with Louise? Forgetting about the book for now, she moved in the direction of the shout. When Guiche came into view, his back was turned, and Louise was **in his ARMS?!** Montmorency was about to storm up to Guiche when he did something she wasn't expecting; he lowered Louise to the floor. Pulling out his wand, he cast a spell, surrounding Louise in a dome. Before the dome was complete, Montmorency could see Louise twitching a little.

She was about to go to Guiche and demand an explanation, but a maid bet her to it.

"Plea...! Please refrain from using magic in the library, the books are delicate."

"I am sorry, but a matter of importance came up and the dome was needed. I will remove it and fix the floor when it is done."

'_A matter of great importance? You trapped Louise in a dome_!' Anger, over how Guiche was treating a girl, raged at Montmorency to go to him, slap him silly, drown him, and free Louise. Curiosity wanted her to wait and see what happened. The two emotions started battling.

Eventually anger won. Montmorency pulled out her wand and was about to cast the same dot level spell she used earlier on the cheating swine, when curiosity got in an excellent haymaker; Guiche raised his wand. The dome receded, repairing the floor as well. Montmorency heard a gasp on her left. Apparently, so did Guiche. He spun around. With a flick of his wrist, the maid from earlier came back into view.

"Listen, I can see how this looks, but my friend, Louise, has, um, a condition that, um, cases her to spasm. The only way to make her stop would be to knock her out. I couldn't get close so I made the dome to holder her until she lost consciousness. There were air holes in it, I promise. Please, don't yell. Louise doesn't want people to know about it."

'Spasms?' Montmorency remembered the twitching she saw before the dome closed over Louise. She had to stifling a gasp of her own.

'_Guiche is helping Louise? Was he trying to think of a way to help her when I dumped him_?' Tormented by her own thoughts, she watched as Guiche levitated Louise and left with the maid.

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Siesta was nervous. She was sure that this noble was up to something un-noble, but what was she to do? Fight him? He would kill her or main her and then get her fired. '_No! I'll get someone!_'

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Guiche was tense. He left his robe in the library and was levitating a fellow student, unconscious, down the hallway. He looked like a teenage pedophile, considering how Louise looked.

Guiche and the maid managed to get Louise to her room, luckily without incident. Siesta opened it and stepped to the left, preparing to run. Guiche noticed her raised shoulders, like she was preparing for something. '_She's going to run!_' He couldn't blame her, he would to.

Thinking quickly he said, "Um, this is a ladies room. I can't enter." He flicked his wrist. Louise floated inside, "Can you please put her to bed?"

The maid's shoulders fell. '_So I'm trapped too._' Reluctantly she entered after Louise closing the door behind her.

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Louise was floating, she could feel that. Darkness was around her, shifting, _changing_. It scared her more than her mother's cold disappointment. Where was she?

A purple _ripple_ coursed through the darkness. In its wake, symbols appeared. They were weird, twisting lines and shapes. If they meant anything Louise couldn't read them.

Yet, somehow, she could understand them. The symbol in front of her meant _wood_. The symbol pulsed with a dim light-brown color that reminded Louise of bark. She twisted her head looking at the others.

_Fire_

_Ice_

_Ink_

_Paper_

_Stone_

_Glass_

_Dirt_

Eight symbols floating around. '_What is this_?' Louise tried to turn around to look at the symbol behind her better. To her surprise, the symbols _shifted_. The paper symbol was now in front. The symbol glowed with a white light that had a gray outlining. However, the symbol was different from the others: it had smaller paper symbols orbiting the main symbol. When Louise tried to focus on one of them, the symbol _shifted_ toward her.

The symbol became a page. What was written on it; the Holy land the founder first brought humanity, after escaping the elves. Louise reached for the page out of habit of holding whatever she's reading. The page, instead, becamea symbol again. Louise surprise continued when the paper symbol entered her chest.

The darkness around her changed. Ground appeared under her feet. The ground spread outward suddenly with increasing speed and even more suddenly stopped. Whiteness filled the rest, still moving and _shifting_ like the blackness did, but now there was what seemed to be a dim orange colored dome above her. The other symbols were still there, somehow still visible even with the white and orange background. Louise, finding she could walk, moved to the edge her little platform. The _shifting_ whiteness swept across the edge.

Louise reached out over the edge. She was so surprised about her situation, that nothing really _surprised_ her anymore. Not her hand going through the whiteness. Not reaching as far as she could and still feeling nothing. Not pulling her hand back to find it with droplets of water clinging to her sleeve and hand.

Louise suddenly realized what the whiteness could be. With this thought in mind, she got on her belly and _blew_ at the whiteness. She was right. A hole appeared in the _cloud_! Louise continued to blow at the cloud forming small circles.

After her fourth blow, she was out of breath and panting heavily. '_I need something stronger._' Almost without realizing it, the circle of elements _shifted_ again this time the wind element in front of her. Louise reached for it, like she did the paper. The element floated toward her.

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Tabitha and Kirche were having a nice meal.

In the classroom.

The dining hall was a mess. Why? Louise's candle; most of the students were sad because they wanted to banish a fellow noble. Some were skeptical about a _candle_ of all things acting the way it did. Seriously, a _candle_ that was soothing to look at? Yah, right.

The headmaster was looking smug. He defended a girl that just needed time to prove herself when over half the staff had given up. Colbert was still ranting about how impressed he was that Louise got something in his class and how he didn't release that fire could be used for other purposed then the ones he thought of.

Tabitha and Kirche just wanted to eat and get ready for the night. But after hearing about the candle, they couldn't wait. So, ordering a maid to help them, they brought food to the class room. Kirche tipped the maids, thanking them for their service.

Kirche was happy with the change, finally able to hear her thoughts again. Tabitha just turned another page in her book.

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The wind symbol entered Louise's chest, like the paper. Nothing happened.

Frowning, Louise got back on the ground and blew again. A gust of wind pushed a large chuck of cloud out of the way. Excited, Louise did the same thing with her hand, swiping it back and forth. Sections of cloud shifted, revealing the landscape beneath. The mountain she was on overlooked a valley with forest on the side, hugging the walls. A river ran through the middle. The river twisted to the right, out of view but it was a sea of green.

Turning around, she did the same thing. A desert stretched in front of her. Dunes dotted the land. Cactuses and small shrubs were next to the wall of rock. Of in the distance, blue shimmered. '_The Ocean._'

Louise knew she must have been dreaming. How else could she have to power to control the wind? As much as she wanted to stay, she had to wake up and face the real world. The land around her _changed_, _dissolved_ into little black particles. Louise closed her eyes.

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"…ugh…" Louise's rolled over in her bed. She was right, it was a dream. Now that she was awake, her pounding headache had only seemed to double. Going back to that strange land with the wind sounded like an excellent idea.

"Good, you're awake." A voice behind her said. Louise's pain addled mind did not register the words right away. When they did, Louise jumped out of bed, twisting to see the intruder in her room ready to yell if it was a boy. A maid was sitting in the chair, smiling. That was not what she expected. A knock was heard from the door.

"Excuse me, but is Louise awake yet?" Guiche's voice asked. Louise fell back into bed. "Guiche, shouldn't you be going to breakfast or something?" She said from her position.

"Don't you mean dinner?" The maid asked. Louise twisted toward her.

"No, I just woke up. It's the next day. Please get my cloths." She pointed at her dresser.

"Please look at yourself. You will find that you are already dressed." The maid said. Perplexed, Louise did look down. The maid was right, she was dressed. Looking out the window, the sky was orange.

"It isn't dawn?" Louise asked.

"No, it's dusk. May I come in now?" Guiche's voice responded. The maid stood and opened the door.

"I SLEPT THE WHOLE DAY!" Louise grabbed her head. Yelling was a bad idea.

"Calm Down! You past out in the library!" Guiche turned to the maid.

"Thank you. What is your name?"

"Siesta, my lord." She was still tense about the entire situation. A boy knocking out a girl in the library didn't seem to be just a coincidence. But the girl wasn't freaking out at seeing him, so she wasn't attacked.

"Thank you Siesta. For the trouble I may have caused you, I'll see if I can get you a raise." The maid visible brightened. Screaming "KYAAAAAAA!" she ran out of the room.

"That was weird." Who screams 'KYA'? Louise's head still hurt. Guiche took the seat the maid was in. He looked worried. "Look, all I remember is cleaning up, dreaming, than I woke up here. What happened, Guiche?"

Guiche's looked turned from worried to nervous. "Louise." He began. "Do you think that having this experiment tonight is such a great idea? You have a pounding headache, haven't eaten anything all day, and you just had black mist pour out of your mouth and the white of your eyes turn ink black."

"Ink black?" Mist pouring out of her mouth? Was that the cause of that dream? "We probably shouldn't do any magic tonight. But I still want to talk about this at least." Guiche nodded.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" Guiche asked. Louise shook her head.

"I couldn't eat anything even if I wanted to."

"Ok than, I'll get something from the dining hall for both of us. If you get hungry later on, you can eat that."

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Montmorency didn't feel like eating. So when she found herself near the dining hall, she didn't know if she wanted to enter. Playing with her hair, a habit she picked up from her childhood whenever she was yelled at by her parents, she stood there for several minutes and would have continued like that if Guiche hadn't appeared and entered the hall. He still didn't have his coat and his hair was still a mess.

Montmorency made a snap decision. She moved forward to enter the hall.

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Beatrice's mood had improved a little since the library. That changed when she went to get dinner.

"How, in the name of the founder, can a _candle_ be relaxing?" A second year boy said through a mouth full of bread and meat.

"I don't know, but I felt so refreshed after that class. We should go find Louise and get another candle. There awesome." A girl to her left said. The boy kept eating.

Beatrice chewed her food with forced calm. '_It's fine, just eat and ignore them. It's fine, just eat and ignore them. It's fi…!_' The doors to the hall opened and Guiche entered. He was at the library with the _Zero_. Why were they looking up the Founder's favorite curse?

He walked over to one of the servants and talked with him for a minute. The servant nodded and left.

Guiche still didn't have his coat, his hair was still a mess and he looked content. Somehow, that look expressed a sense of honor and nobility that no amount of title or colorful robes could ever achieve.

Beatrice heard somebody whispering near her. "Is that Guiche?"

"I thought he cheated on Montmorency?"

"Yeah he did, how can he be so calm about it?" Beatrice just kept eating. The doors to the hall opened again and Montmorency entered.

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Guiche was waiting for the servant to come back when he heard his name behind him. "Guiche." Guiche's shoulders stiffened. Turning slowly he looked at Montmorency.

"Yes?" Guiche whispered. The hall was quieter than normal, most watching the confrontation. Would Guiche be slapped or forgiven? The other girl, third year by her robes, was watching intensely. She hoped that Guiche would be forgiven, for if he was, then her parents didn't have to know about the two-timing because he was with the other first year.

"What you said in the library, about Louise, is it true?" Guiche's eyes widened. Montmorency was there? She heard his excuse about Louise collapsing because of spasms? How much did she see? When in doubt, play dumb.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Guiche said, looking away for a second.

"Yes you do, about Louise having those spasms being the reason her spells explode. Is it TRUE?" Everybody was watching them now. Some had gasped at Montmorency practically declared that the reason for Louise's failure at magic was because of a disability. Some berated themselves. How could a fifteen year old be so small? It MUST have been a disability. How could they not notice? Some didn't believe it. They just couldn't.

Guiche looked at Montmorency, then at the crowd of students all pretending not to care and poorly disguising their eavesdropping. Having everybody focused on Louise was a bad idea. They might find out about the Void. He needed to shift the attention somehow. Get it away from Louise.

"That subject is not for me to say, but there is one that I need to say. Your accusation about my two-timing; It is true." Montmorency at first had a worried look on her face. After the last sentence, that looked turned into anger. "WHAT!?" She shouted. The hall burst into noise.

"GUICHE, HOW COULD YOU!?" A girl somewhere in the crowd shouted. Half the crowd seemed to be in agreement

"HOW CARES, WHAT ABOUT LOUISE!?" A boy shouted. The other half of the crowd backed this idea.

In the pandemonium, the servant form earlier came back with two trays on a cart. "I have your meal, sir."

"Thank you. Please take them to Louise's room. Do y…!"

Montmorency interrupted with a jet of water to Guiche's face. He spluttered, clearing water from his mouth. "YOU JERK!" Montmorency shouted. She slapped him across the face for good measure, turned, and ran out of the hall.

Clearing out his throat, Guiche turned to the servant. "Do you know where Louise's room is?" The servant seemed to tense up at his words.

"Yes sir, I know Mistress Louise's room. Are you having dinner with her?" Guiche shook his head.

"Louise isn't feeling well and has been in bed since she collapsed in the library." Guiche's eyes widened as he registered what he just said. With an abrupt turn and a quick and quiet "Come along." He left the hall, with the servant behind him.

After a good distance from the hall, the servant asked, "My lord, I already knew that Louise collapsed in the library, but is it true that she suffers from spasms?" Guiche looked at the servant, puzzled?

"How do you know that?"

"I am friends with the maid, Siesta. She cared for Louise while she was unconscious." Ah, Siesta. Guiche needed to see if he could get her that raise.

"What is your name?"

"Dorin, sir."

"How well do you know Louise?"

"I was with her at the Vallière estate when she was growing up. I was the one who usually helped her in sneaking around the generally helping anyway I could." Dorin explained with pride.

"When Louise came here to the Academy, she asked me to come with her as a 'personal' servant of sorts. If you don't mind me asking, how well do you how Louise?" Dorin's face hardened a little. He was protecting Louise as best he could. This noble in front of him confessed to an injustice, which was good in Dorin's book; it's just that the injustice was two-timing.

Guiche stared at Dorin for a minute. A 'personal' servant to Louise? Could Guiche trust him?

"I only knew what everybody else knew about Louise until a yesterday. So, no, I don't know Louise very well." Dorin tensed again. The two men continued in silence until they reached Louise's room. Guiche knocked.

"Louise, I have the food. Are you coming?" Guiche heard some rustling in the room.

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Louise was lying on her bed. Her headache had subsided to a small throbbing by now. For some reason, the mountain with the forest on one side and the desert on the other stayed fresh in her mind. She could stop thinking about it. There was some knocking at her door. "Louise, I have the food. Are you coming?" She got out of the bed.

"Sir, she collapsed in the library. Shouldn't she stay in bed?" Louise heard a voice she wasn't expecting. Opening the door, she saw him.

"Dorin? What are you doing here?"

"Sir Guiche asked me to help him with the food."

Guiche looked between Louise and Dorin. "So you do know each other."

"I told you, sir. WE were friends at Mistress Louise's home." He bowed a little to Louise. "It is good to see you can walk, Louise, but shouldn't you stay in bed?"

"I am fine, Dorin. I slept a little while you two were getting food." Dorin didn't look convinced.

"So what are you going to do with this food, Louise?"

Louise looked at Guiche. "It would help to have a servant on our side, and Dorin's the most trustworthy I know."

"Louise. What happened?" Dorin looked worried. Louise seemed to trust this noble, Guiche, a lot. She hadn't been feeling well today. '_Oh…Louise's not…no I doubt it._' Louise wasn't so irresponsible to get pregnant. Guiche thought about it for a minute.

"All the maids would be talking about the rumors around the Academy. It would be nice to have a person watching and listening."

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Headmaster Osmond finished the letter he was writing. Putting down the quill, he took a puff on his pipe. It was a good think he stashed several around his office that Miss Longueville didn't know about. She was constantly complaining about the smell and how it was slowly killing him, but it was a special occasion. The letter he wrote was to the Valliere estate, explaining that Louise had cast her first spell. It was a candle like no other.

"Is there any other information we should put in, Colbert?" Osmond asked. The professor shook his head.

"I can't think of anything else to add." Colbert smiled at his boss. Duke Valliere wanted to know when Louise cast her first spell. In a few days, he would.

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I had my BETA read this people. It is much better then when it was before.

Now a paper to write. Review PLEASE! The more reviews I have, the better I feel, and the faster I type. =3


	5. Night Time Void Meeting

**Tristain Magical Academy **

**Half a year until summoning**

Beatrice lost her composure in the dining hall, but because of Guiche's confession, nobody was paying attention to her. There were not one but _**TWO**_ people more popular than her. She stormed out and fumed all the way to the dorms.

"Stupid Guiche and his confession. Stupid _Zero_ and her candles." She muttered under her breath. '_I'm better than them. I'm better than them._' She repeated in her head. '_I will, by the Founder, bring them DOWN!_' So wrapped up in her thoughts, Beatrice literally walked past the room that housed her mortal enemies.

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Dorin had a vein beginning to throb in his temple. "Let me see if I understand this." He said with forced calm. "Instead of waiting to cast your first spell, you used an Affinity circle to ease your curiosity." Louise flinched a little. Maybe she could have waited.

Kirche giggled, having a stellar time, even though she understood the life/death that came with the situation.

Guiche smiled, beginning to like Dorin.

Tabitha turned a page in her book.

"Performing it, the void symbol glowed, causing a deadly black mist, which is a curse the Founder loved to use, to dissolve everything in the room, including the window and wall and almost killing two students." Dorin really wanted to yell, but there was something more important to tell them. "Do you realize, Louise, that you cast a spell, _successfully_, yesterday?"

Louise blinked. She didn't. "I didn't cast a spell yesterday, I was barely in class."

Guiche coughed. "Actually Louise, yesterday in class you cast a dot level fire spell and lit a candle." Louise's eyes widened. "What?" She turned to Guiche. Guiche paused, trying to decide whether that question was rhetorical or not.

Kirche stepped forward. "You did Louise. And it was the best fire ever in existence, according to other students' accounts. That little flame was apparently relaxing to look at. Half the class fell asleep." Kirche groaned. "It's a shame we missed it, right Tabitha?"

Tabitha nodded, not looking up from her book.

"Wait." Louise said, "A _candle_? Relaxing?" How could a candle be relaxing?

Million dollar questions need million dollar distractions.

"That doesn't matter. What does matter is that a letter was sent by the headmaster. A few hours ago. To you _MOTHER_, Louise."

Louise paled. "Oh Founder." She whispered.

"I'm sorry, but why is that significant?" Guiche asked.

"That's because Louise's mother is Karen the Heavy Wind." 3, 2, 1, !

Guiche paled, understanding the importance of the warning. Kirche chocked on the air she was breathing.

Tabitha closed her book.

"That's not all," Dorin continued, "When Louise was 7, we eavesdropped one Miss Louise's parents. They planned to have Louise cast the Affinity spell after she cast her first spell successfully and Louise cast a dot level fire spell, _successfully!_" Dorin couldn't stress the last word enough.

Louise began to shake. "_Why_?" she whispered. Tears of frustration and fear left trails down Louise's cheeks. Why did everything she did have to go wrong? Every time, _Every Time_, Louise was about to turn her life around, it plummets instead: coming to the academy, studying until she fell asleep at her desk in her room, every spell blowing up, finding the Affinity spell, trying to and find answers with people she could trust, all went bad in some way instead of good. How far can she fall before she could come back up? Why was it always her?

Dorin approached Louise and pulled her into a hug. "Louise, breathe and calm down. When you're ready, well continue." Dorin always did this with Louise at home when Cattleya couldn't. He was hired by the Valliere family when Louise was six. During a storm, he found Louise after one of her lessons crying in her room.

_Flashback_

_Dorin was cleaning the hall when he heard someone crying. Following the noise led him to Miss Louise's room. He knocked. "Excuse me Miss Louise, but may I come in?" All he heard was crying. _

_Dorin opened the door slowly. Miss Louise was laying on her bed, face down, quietly sobbing. Quickly closing the door to muffle the sound, he approached Louise. "Miss, what's wrong?" Louise didn't seem to realize that she wasn't alone anymore. Dorin moved toward Louise, sitting on the bed. "Louise?" Dorin was about to ask what was wrong again, when Louise did the unexpected, she flung herself at him._

"_I f-failed-d ag-gain, C-Cattleya." Louise said in between sobs. Dorin, completely confused, could only hold the crying child until she fell asleep in his arms. After a few minutes of sitting there, a knock was heard at the door._

"_Louise, may I come in?" It was Cattleya. Dorin didn't really know what to do._

"_Mistress Louise is asleep, but please come in." Dorin said in the most respectful voice he could._

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"_Louise, may I come in?"_

"_Mistress Louise is asleep, but please come in." A _MALE_ voice answered. Cattleya blinked. Who was that? She pulled out her wand from her waist band and hid it in her sleeve, just in case. She opened the door. A man in a servants outfit was sitting on the bed, Louise sleeping on his lap. She approached. "Who are you?"_

"_My name is Dorin, ma'am and I was cleaning the hall outside when I heard crying. I knocked and asked if I could come in, but Miss Louise was crying too much and didn't realize I was here. I sat down and she hugged me, still crying, until she fell asleep. She said that she failed again and then said your name. I'm not in trouble am I?" Dorin asked a little sheepishly._

_Cattleya sighed in hear head. So a new servant found Louise before she did and Louise mistook Dorin as her. "Now that's alright. Thank you for taking care of Louise."_

_Louise stirred slightly. She opened her blood shot eyes and looked at Cattleya, standing next to her. Blinking a few times, she looked at the pair of legs she was laying on. Looking up she saw a face that wasn't Cattleya. She repeated that sequence several times before she understood what it meant._

_Louise temper was begging to show at this age, so she did the first thing that came to mind: She punched Dorin in the balls and runs to Cattleya._

"_!" Dorin held back the yell of pain he was going to scream, clutching his bruised pride. Cattleya didn't expect that and was caught unawares. Louise hid behind Cattleya's leg, peeking around every few seconds._

_After the pain subsided to a dull throbbing _(how could a girl that **small** hit that **hard**)_ Dorin picked himself up into a sitting position on the bed. Cattleya looked down at Louise, "Why did you hit him, Louise?"_

"_Huh?" Louise answered looking up innocently. "He was in my bed and Eleanor said that I had to be careful."_

"_You have to be careful if you don't know them. Louise, you fell asleep on his lap." Cattleya said, having to fight to keep a straight face. Louise looked up at Cattleya, then at the man on her bed. She looked at Cattleya again. Back to the man._

_Louise finally noticed the clothes he was wearing, a suit worn by the servants. "He's a servant."_

"_Very good Louise." Cattleya complimented._

"_But, how did he get there, I was sleeping on your lap."_

"_No Miss Louise, you fell asleep on mine. While crying, you mistook me for Miss Cattleya." Dorin responded. Louise now completely embarrassed, replied, "I still don't know you."_

"_My name is Dorin. There now you know me, so no more hitting, please."_

_Flashback End_

Louise, after several minutes, calmed down enough to lightly push Dorin away. "I'm fine now." Dorin released her.

While that was happening, Guiche's and Kirche's faces were still pale, but their eyes had a look of determination in them.

Tabitha cast several silence spells around the room; one at the door, on each wall, the window and, after some thought, the ceiling. The window also had a spell that wouldn't allow anybody to peek inside.

"Well…" Kirche started. "You cast a fire spell in class today, want to try another one?"

Louise wiped her eyes dry and looked back at Kirche, "Fine, but if you try anything, I'll blow you up."

Dorin frowned a little, '_She doesn't mean that does she?_'

Guiche smiled. '_It's good to have you back, Louise._'

Tabitha opened her book again.

Kirche smirked. "With your aim, I'm more worried about Guiche." She pulled out her wand, "This is a simple one. Guiche can you give us a target please?"

Guiche nodded. Pulling out his own wand, he made a piece of the floor break apart on the other side of the room and a small wall to rise up. Kirche jabbed and a small jet of fire shot out, striking the wall dead center. Closing her book again, Tabitha cast a dot wind spell and snuffed the fire before it could spread.

"Casting it is like the candle but you don't focus it on an object, just release it." Kirche explained.

Louise nodded. Pulling out her own wand, she raised it and tried to imagine the fire. She thought of the destruction that it caused, trying to focus it on her wand. She jabbed.

Nothing.

Confused, Louise tried again. Kirche stopped her. "Louise maybe we should try to cast the light the candle again." Louise was frustrated. Why wasn't it working? Kirche waved her wand and snuffed out the single torch in the room. She couldn't lie to herself. She actually wanted to see the fire that put half a class to sleep. "Louise."

Louise raised her wand. Focusing on fire, she did something different this time. She tried to recall the fire symbol she saw in her dream. She remembered it glowing a light orange color, the edges fading in and out. She even remembered the twisting lines. Louise flicked her wrist. Orange light started in the center of the kindling on top. It spread, covering the entire top of the torch. An orange _liquid_ rose up forming a perfect tear drop.

Strange thing is, nothing seemed to 'burn'. Heat washed over the 5 occupants in the room.

Guiche, leaning against the opposite wall, almost slide down temped to just sleep there.

Dorin's eyes drooped, wanting to join Guiche.

Kirche groaned, the heat felling better than anything she felt before.

Tabitha closed her book, her eyes and breathed out slowly, remembering happier times and her mother.

Louise, being Louise, didn't feel tired at all. She felt the heat and it felt great, but not drowsy. She looked around at the other people in the room. "Hey. What are you all doing?" Guiche slid down and sat. Dorin joined him.

"Hey!" Still nothing. Louise frowned. Looking back at the torch, she flicked her wrist again and canceled the spell. The light and pleasant heat ended.

Guiche and Dorin snorted, opening their eyes and looking around slowly. Tabitha opened her eyes, the pleasant memories retreating back into her mind.

Kirche groaned. "Did you have to end it?" She asked, giving Louise a puppy look.

"None of you were listening to me." Louise said.

Guiche and Dorin got up from the floor. "I must say, that was the best feeling I have ever felt." Guiche said with a smile. Dorin nodded.

"Agreed."

"How cou…!" Louise began to say before her stomach growled. She blushed.

Kirche giggled, "Hungry are we?"

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After the torch and a meal, they discussed what they learned in the library and the incident afterward. Louise debated at first whether or not to tell them of the dream. She decided against it. It was a dream after all. Before they dispersed, Guiche asked when they would be meeting again.

"We shouldn't do this all the time. It is blasphemous after all and if anybody found out…" Guiche let the sentence drop.

"What if we had a word or a symbol that would be written for everybody else to see? Only we would understand that it would mean there was a meeting that night." Kirche said.

"It should also be plain enough so that if anybody saw it, they would be suspicions." Dorin thought out loud.

"…" Tabitha raised her staff using the bottom of it to draw a symbol. It was regular pentagon but there were circles on the points and a tear drop in the middle. Louise looked impressed.

"That would work."

"That it would."

Kirche sighed. She had been thinking about this for a while."If we're all going to work together, we need to tell each other all our secrets. _Everything_."

Guiche had a look of wonderment on his face. "What do you mean?" Secrets? What could they be hiding?

"Everybody is going to consider us blasphemers if they every find out. The best way to avoid this is if we all trust each other completely. So, that means no secrets, no surprises, we need to know everything about each other." He looked around the room. "Guiche?"

"I don't really have any secrets."

"Besides your two timing." Louise said.

Guiche face took on a hollow expression. "Not anymore." Kirche and Louise looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Kirche asked. Guiche didn't say anything. Dorin answered for him.

"Earlier, when I was getting food for Miss Louise and Guiche, another noble, I believe her name is Montmorency, came up to Guiche and asked something. Guiche responded by telling her it wasn't his place to say and that he really was two timing." Louise looked like she wanted to slap Guiche, but Kirche had a look of respect. Telling the truth even though it would ruin his reputation. Why did he do it?

"…why…?" Tabitha asked. Guiche closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly.

"In the library, before I left with Siesta, I told her an excuse about Louise having spasms. I didn't realize that Montmorency was listening in. While Dorin was getting the food, Montmorency came up and asked if it was true. The entire hall was listening in. We had too much focus on Louise and I thought that we needed to shift the attention to something else. _Anything else_. So I confessed."

The room was silent.

"So I guess that could be considered a secret." Guiche turned to Louise. "I chose you over Montmorency. I hope it was right."

Dorin and Kirche looked at Guiche with a new respect, proud to know a man, even if he cheated, that confessed to his crimes.

Louise was shocked. He did that? For her?

Tabitha closed her book. She looked around the room. Kirche was right, there could be no surprises.

"…princess…" was all Tabitha said. Nobody at first understood what she meant.

"Princess? What about a princess?" Was what Louise asked.

Guiche spoke next. "Do you mean Princess Henrietta?"

Dorin stepped forward. He squatted in front of Tabitha. "Do you mean _you're_ a princess?" Tabitha looked Dorin in the eyes before nodding. Louise's reaction was instantaneous.

She practically fell to one knee, her head bowed to the ground. Guiche just stood there, his mouth firmly closed but his eyes were bulging. Louise didn't like that.

"GUICHE!" She jumped up and slammed him into the ground.

"Were in the presence of Nobility, get down!" Louise whisper shouted. Guiche blinked a few times clearing his vision from hitting his head on the floor.

"Louise, if Tabitha wanted to be treated as Royalty, she wouldn't have kept it a secret." Dorin explained. Louise still didn't move. Tabitha stepped forward, stopping in front of Louise. Louise seemed to be trying to fade into the floor. Tabitha stared at Louise for a second then hit her with her staff.

On the head.

_HARD_.

"Ow! Tabitha!" Louise said before clasping her mouth. "My apologies."

Tabitha raised her staff, ready to hit Louise again.

Dorin stopped her. "Trying to literally knock some sense into Louise would be like trying to teach a wall to move." Kirche giggled.

Louise blushed. "Hey!"

Dorin looked at Louise with an expression that said 'Are you serious?', "Do I have to remind you of the incident when you were nine? With the dog and the eagle?"

Louise blushed even more beginning to resemble a ripe tomato, "That was different."

"Oh, care to share, Louise?" Kirche giggled. This was too much fun.

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The night time void meeting soon ended after that. The four nobles proceeded toward the dorms while Dorin went to the servant quarters. Louise fell into bed, not even changing, and slept. The dream from before came back.

The ground appeared under her feet, and the holes Louise blew earlier were still there. Louise walked to the edge of her little platform. She wondered what was in that forest. A purple _ripple_ coursed through the sky. Seven symbols appeared. Louise frowned.

'_Weren't there eight_?' Shrugging she looked at the symbol in front of her.

This time it was _dirt_. Louise reached for it. The symbol floated toward her. When it entered her chest, the wind symbol floated out. Louise blinked. '_It was still in me_?'She would have to think about that later.

Looking down at the edge, Louise stomped her foot. The ground below her shook slightly and a stair case sprouted from the edge of the cliff. Louise started down the stairs.

When Louise reached the tree tops, she only went about twenty feet. Another twenty and it looked like she was half way down the trunk. When she reached the bottom, the trees towered over her. The forest was alive with noise.

Small animals Louise didn't know ran though lower branches, squeaking. What looked like a big black cat lay on a branch, appearing to be asleep.

Louise started to move forward, she wanted to see what was in this forest. After several hours of walking, Louise saw a clearing. The clearing had what looked like a ruin. The building was made of wood, holes in the top. It looked like a cottage and was over grown with vines. However, before Louise could approach, she heard something behind her.

Turning around, the cat from before was lying on another branch, directly above her. It looked at Louise, and then jumped down.

Louise gasped. Not because the cat jumped directly in front of her. But because the tree it was on dissolved into blackness. The ground that surrounded the tree dissolved as well, spreading and dissolving everything.

Eventually, the entire world was dissolved, bringing Louise back to the place she was in before the paper symbol entered her chest. But there was one key element that was different.

The black cat.

It's eyes were looking directly at Louise. Out of fear, Louise closed hers.


	6. Repeat after me

**Tristain Magical Academy **

**Half a year until summoning**

After Guiche confessed to his two timing, Montmorency locked herself in her room. Most thought she was distraught, so the nobles left her alone. Since the Nobles left her alone, the servants did as well. Montmorency was distraught. For about seven minutes.

"He thinks he can cheat on me and get away with it." Montmorency murmured. She rummaged through her alchemy ingredients. "I'll show him."

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Louise jolted upright. Sweat made her cloths cling to her. She was panting heavily. '_What was that_?' Was everything going to surprise her? The sun was barely peeking on the horizon. A dull headache was all that was left from yesterday's pounding but that didn't stop Louise from changing into a new school uniform as fast as she could and running out of the room.

Louise would have normally gone straight to the dining hall for breakfast but after last night's dream, she needed to talk to someone. _ANYONE_. Dorin was in the kitchens or if he wasn't, she could talk to some other maid or servant.

It's a good thing she didn't dilly dally. Otherwise, she might have noticed the pair of eyes under her bed.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Guiche was standing a good distance away from the dining hall. After last night, he didn't know if he should enter it. What would everybody do? Would they laugh? Glare? Ignore? '_What would Montmorency do_?'

While Guiche debated with himself, Tabitha and Kirche spotted Guiche.

"Good morning, Guiche." Kirche said.

Guiche jumped a little, not noticing their approach. "Good morning."

Tabitha looked up from her book to stare at Guiche. She then looked at the dining hall.

Kirche understood the silent question. "What are you doing, Guiche? Don't you want to go eat?"

"Should I go in there? I mean after what happened last night…" He couldn't finish the sentence.

Tabitha pointed toward the kitchens with her staff.

"Yeah, I need to get that raise for Siesta anyway."Guiche said. They started off.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Beatrice got up early. She wanted to be at the dining hall so she could follow Guiche or Louise after they entered. She was going to find something, _anything_, she could use against them. She wanted to find the darkest secrets about Louise and Guiche.

She wanted then to be ruined.

Beatrice was hiding near the entrance to the dining hall waiting for Louise or Guiche to show up. After several minutes, Louise arrived. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were wrinkled and disheveled. She all but ran toward the kitchens.

'_What is that about_?' Beatrice thought. Did she find something already?

Beatrice waited a few more minutes for Guiche. When he arrived, he just stood there, looking at the hall. Later Kirche and Tabitha arrived. Guiche, Tabitha and Kirche talked for a minute, then went in the same direction of Louise.

Beatrice followed them.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Dorin was talking to the head chief when Louise burst in, causing half the servants and maids to jump and nearly drop their respective pots and dishes. Louise spotted Dorin.

Almost running over, she stammered, "D-Dorin, we ne-eed to ta-alk."

Dorin looked back at the head chief. The chief shrugged, "I'll get someone to cover for you."

Dorin smiled, "Thanks."

Dorin and Louise left the kitchen.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche were about to enter the kitchen when Louise and Dorin exited.

"Oh." Kirche said in surprise. "Louise?" They noticed the messed up hair, the clothes and her out of breath expression. Kirche jumped to a conclusion.

"Louise!" Kirche blushed and giggled, eyeing Dorin. '_No way…_!' Kirche thought. She wasn't alone in thinking that.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Beatrice, hiding behind a corner, almost laughed. '_This is too easy._' So Louise was having an affair with a servant. That's one mortal enemy scratched off her hit-list. She was hiding behind a wall, peering around the corner. Beatrice would have purred if she was a cat. She slowly walked backwards not allowing anything to see her without Beatrice seeing them as well.

Beatrice froze when she bumped into something. A rumbling shook her legs and she could hear a low growl behind her. Turning slowly, she saw a rather big cat.

A big _**black**_ cat.

Its lips were open in a snarl showing some rather sharp teeth. Its eyes looked directly into Beatrice's. Beatrice would have run but she couldn't feel her legs. Actually, she couldn't feel **anything**.

A black mist surrounded Beatrice, swallowing her whole. After a few seconds the mist dissolved, leaving Beatrice to fall, face first, to the ground.

Nobody noticed.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

Tabitha, Louise, Kirche and Dorin went to the Library while Guiche stayed behind to talk to the head chief. They found the table they were at before to be empty again.

"So…Louise, why did you drag me from the kitchens?" Dorin asked. Tabitha put up some silence spells.

"Well…" Louise blushed. Did she really need to talk to Dorin about a dream? "I had a dream last night…" She started.

Kirche giggled. "Ah, is little Louise scared?"

"Shut up!"

"Louise, will this take longer than 10 minutes?" Dorin interrupted. As much as he wanted to help Louise, she would kill him if she stayed here to talk about whatever she wanted to talk about and miss class.

Louise nodded.

"Well you have class in about 10 minutes, so I suggest you leave this for later." Dorin said, while covering his ears. He suspected Louise to explode.

She didn't disappoint.

"_**WHAAAA**_!" Louise shouted before running out of the library.

Kirche groaned. "Did you have to end the fun?"

"Yes. If Louise was late because she was talking to me, she would blame me for everything." Dorin said with a smile. Tabitha canceled all the silence spells and they all left the library.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Guiche was leaning against a wall, waiting for the head chief to finish telling the other maids and servants to finish the food. He was interested in what they were doing. He never realize the amount of work that went into the food he ate. Guiche noticed a table with some bread and water. Some of the servants were eating the bread quickly and gulping down the water before hurrying to finish a meal or prepare a salad.

Guiche remembered the prayer that was said every morning, '_…bless this humble meal which we are about to receive…_'

'_Humble…_' Guiche thought. What else was corrupted in the Founder religion? Louise was a void mage, but could not tell anybody because everybody would kill her. The prayers don't seem to mean the same thing as when the founder was actually alive.

Nobles were suppose to protect the people that lived near them, but most nobles were the reason for the problems that plagued the commoners, doing whatever they want. Guiche frowned. What had he done before Louise blackmailed him into helping? What would he be doing right now?

The Head Chief seemed to be done with breakfast. The servants were bringing out the food. Guiche approached the Head Chief.

"Excuse me, umm…sir?"

The Head Chief turned around. "That's the last of the fo…Oh, my lord." The Chief interrupted himself. He took a deep bow. "If my lord does not mind me asking; what are you doing here?"

Guiche stared for a minute before remembering he was in full noble attire. He should his head, "Please, my name is Guiche mister…"

"Head Chief Marteau." Marteau responding.

"Marteau, I am here because of one of the maids." Marteau's eyes narrowed. Was this noble going to blame one of his maids for something he did?

Most likely. "Which one, my lord?"

Guiche winced a little. Did he really deserve to be a lord? "Please, my name is Guiche, not 'my lord', and the maids name is Siesta. She…"

Marteau interrupted. "Do not worry, my lord, whatever she did, I will see she is punished for it." The faster he got this noble out of _his_ kitchen the faster he could find Siesta before other nobles started picking on her. Seriously, nobles are like wolves; always traveling in packs and ready to eat any sheep they came across.

Guiche shook his head quickly. "No, she actually helped me with an important issue I had a yesterday. I was wondering if it was possible to get her a raise." Marteau blinked. The noble was trying to help Siesta?

"If I can inquire, what did she do?" This noble seemed different than the others. He was actually trying to be respectful.

Guiche shook his head again. He was really getting tired of a grown _man_ treating him like he was the better one. If he hadn't been there to see Louise, then Guiche would not be here at all. "I am but a boy, while you are a man. If anything I was expecting to be interrogated for information."

Marteau was surprised. A noble was treating a commoner with respect? "All see what I can do about that raise. Now tell me," Marteau eyes narrowed again. "Did YOU do anything to Siesta?" If this noble was going to treat him properly, Marteau was going to milk it for all it was worth.

Guiche paled. "NO! She just helped me with a friend. If you want to know, ask Siesta!" Maybe he went too far. It was good being treated as he should but it was still scary.

Marteau watched Guiche for a minute before smiling, "Well, mister Guiche, you should hurry up and eat breakfast."

"Thank you, mister Marteau." Guiche responded with his own smile. Guiche started to move toward the servants door, preparing to eat the food he saw made. A brief memory of Montmorency glaring at him, stopped him. Wasn't the Founder's morning prayer suppose to be humble beginnings?

Grinning, Guiche turned around and walked over to the table with the bread. He noticed it was the leftover bread from last night. Beginning the prayer, Guiche picked up a piece and walked out of the kitchens, feeling like a new man.

Marteau watched all this. Maybe there really were some good nobles out there.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

Montmorency wasn't in the best of moods. She planned to get Guiche to take the Love potion at breakfast but he never showed. Love potions were illegal in Tristain but Montmorency wasn't going let Guiche get away with what he did.

She seethed quietly in her desk, glaring at the desk that Guiche usually sat at, next to hers. She wondered for the umpteenth time whether she should do this or not. '_No. This was his fault and he deserves some punishment._' She reminded herself. With a quick prayer to the Founder, she waited for Guiche to show up.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Guiche was standing outside the class room, faced with the same problem he had at the dining hall: should he enter? He would have stood there for the rest of the day if he could but Guiche heard the sound of running foot steps behind him.

Turning around, Guiche watched as Louise, Kirche and Tabitha ran up to him.

Kirche and Louise were panting slightly. Their clothes were wrinkled and their hair was messy. Tabitha wasn't even breathing hard. She was actually still reading her book.

Guiche stared for a minute. "Tabitha, did you read while you were running?"

Tabitha turned a page.

Kirche replied for her. "Yes…she was…" She said between gasps.

Louise was trying to straighten her hair. Said hair looked like it was going in every direction.

"Hold still." Guiche pulled out his wand and waved it slightly over Louise. Her clothes straightened themselves and her hair untangled and fell gracefully against her back. Guiche did the same for Kirche.

Kirche breathed-in slowly, "Thank you, Guiche."

"Yeah, thanks." Louise said opening the door to the classroom. The classroom quieted down. Most were talking about Guiche, but some wondered what Louise would do today.

Montmorency clenched her fist when Guiche entered with Louise, Kirche and Tabitha. What was Guiche doing with them?

Louise went to her normal desk, middle back, while Kirche and Tabitha took theirs. Guiche usually sat next to Montmorency. Guiche stood at the front of the class. '_What should I do?_'

Guiche looked around the room, searching for an open seat that wasn't next to Montmorency. The class watched in silence. The only open spots left in the class were a seat next to Montmorency and Louise. Guiche looked one more time before shaking his head and moving to take the seat next to Louise.

The students started whispering left and right.

'_He's sitting next to Louise_.'

'_Does that mean Louise was the one that Guiche was cheating with_?'

'_I thought it was a third year_.'

Montmorency was livid. The only thing stopping her from pulling out her wand and killing Guiche was the amount of witnesses.

Louise stared at Guiche, genuinely shocked. '_He chose me?_

"Why?" was all Louise could ask.

Guiche glanced at Louise before looking around the class again. It seemed that whatever he did, attention increased on either Louise or himself. Guiche was thinking of a way to shift the attention when a small breeze blew by him.

Guiche could hear Tabitha's voice, "Repeat after me…"(1) Guiche listened for a second. He liked the words. They summarized what he thought about Montmorency while getting Louise's attention off of her and onto him.

"Montmorency, I deceived you and cheated on you. You deserve better than what I did." The class watched silently, waiting for Montmorency's reply.

Montmorency stared at Guiche. '_Does he really mean that_?'

Before she could reply the teacher walked in.

Nobody noticed.

The teacher blinked, surprised that the children were not talking to each other.

"Guiche…" was all Montmorency said. The teacher realized why the students were so quiet.

"As interesting as your loves lives are, leave the drama at the door." The entire class jumped/gasped.

"Everybody, copy down the wand movements I write on the board." The teacher waved his wand. Chalk floated up and began writing different wand movements. "After you finish, practice them."

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

(1) Longest thing Tabitha ever said…=3

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

ALL RIGHT READERS! I know I haven't been updating weekly as I said I would.

**BUT I HAVE AN ****EXCUSE**!

I was watching F for the past two weeks and am now changing stuff in the fanfic. Ill may re-write some previous chapters. (probably)

I was wondering if anybody would give me ANY and ALL information of FoZ/ZnT I might have missed. To give some:

REVIEW!...please…. =3


	7. It's always the night before

**MangamanZX**, I plan to make that 4. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

**Tristain Magical Academy **

**Half a year until summoning**

Beatrice groaned. She had the _mother_ of all headaches.

'_What…_' Beatrice couldn't remember what she was doing. She remembered finishing her homework and having some wine. Now, she was walking up to pain.

Groaning again, she took stock of her surroundings. She wasn't in her room for one, instead lying on the ground outside. How did she get here?

Beatrice got up slowly, and proceeded to find out what happened last night.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

For the next few months Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche, Dorin and Siesta became close friends. They met in there night void meetings and experimented with Louise's magic.

They discovered that everything the black mist absorbed Louise could use, but only the aspect which the absorbed item was used for. For example, the fire from the torch could only be used as a light and no matter how much magic Louise put into the spell, the amount of light released would never increase.

After every void meeting, Louise dreamed of the strange place where she had the power over the elements, and the strange black cat. Consulting her new friends, Dorin and Siesta became the researchers of the group, looking up and cross referencing important information.

After several weeks of looking, Siesta found a small article about the founder saying he had two familiars, one physical and one mental. The article later states that the founder was metaphorical about having a sound mind for magic but what if it was true? If so then the black cat, which Dorin discovered was an extinct species known as a Panther, was Louise's mind familiar. The Founder said the mind familiar watched over the mage while the mage was occupied with something else.

The mind familiar could also communicate with the physical one, relaying information from the mage or updating the physical one certain priorities. The only weakness was the lack of physical contact with the rest of the world. The mind familiar could not attack a person or lift an object unless the mage has absorbed an element with the black mist and the mage allowed the familiar the use of the element.

After several meetings, Guiche, Tabitha, Kirche and Louise needed more space for the different experiments, so they dug. Guiche started with a simple room several meters below the surface. After two nights, a room for research was added for Dorin and Siesta. When Kirche complained about the color and the lack of seats, Louise absorbed and added several cushion chairs. Louise added beds when everybody was too tired to go back to the surface. Tabitha added running water when Louise got mud on everybody.

After everything was added, it was a very cozy living space, complete with running water, heat and food. A stair case was hidden in the back of the classroom spiraling down to the main room.

Everybody had their own roles in the Void group. Tabitha, Kirche, Guiche and Louise would experiment and practice with magic while Dorin and Siesta would research any important information of the Founder and sort through rumors heard around the country.

Over the months, Guiche had become a little cynical. After a week, Guiche and Dorin started exercising; wanting to be as strong as they could, for **when**, _not_ **if**, they were discovered. Guiche and Dorin became rigidly handsome. Guiche's hair became a dirty blond color while his body became lean and fast. Dorin was similar except his hair was brown and he was a little bulkier.

Louise's parents replied to the letter sent by the headmaster. Louise's father was in the capital for war meetings about the civil war in Albion. Louise would not perform the Affinity spell until after he returned.

Montmorency actively avoided Guiche. Most did not know what she did with her time anymore, but Montmorency would practically run away if Guiche was in the same courtyard.

Beatrice's memory of Louise's candle was erased and most of the students were talking about Guiche's/Tabitha's words so Beatrice dedicated herself to crushing Guiche. She followed him around, making notes of his activities. When Guiche went to the classroom with the others Beatrice would try to listen in at the door, but all she would hear was a faint buzzing noise.

It frustrated her to the point of banging on the door, demanding to know what was going on. Although every time she did, Beatrice would wake up in her bed with no memory of ever losing her composure.

Siesta and Dorin talked about the kindness of the Void group. The other servants listened and started to help the four nobles any way they could: better food, better service, but most importantly, information of rumors around the school. The servants would write home to their families and shortly afterward, commoners around the country learned about the four kind nobles.

**Tristain Magical Academy**

**Night before summoning**

Dorin put down the book he was carrying. "Everyone, since you're going to be summoning your familiars tomorrow, Siesta and I decided to look up void familiars."Kirche and Louise stopped practicing their fire spells. Guiche stopped improving the pillars of the underground room.

Tabitha turned a page in her book.

"There is only one void familiar in recorded history: the Gandalfr," Dorin should the group of nobles a set of runes, "The Gandalfr has the power to control all weapons. However, the weapon has to be originally intended for fighting."

"So, nothing improvised will work." Siesta said, turning a few pages in her book. "Throughout history, mages have tried to recreate the runes, usually for military purposes. The church eventually managed to stop all tries by making void users heretics."

"So, void magic is not actually heretical, just the recreation of Gandalfr." Kirche said.

Guiche scowled, "Are you telling me that Void mages were either killed or disowned all because of some old hags wanted power?"

Siesta nodded, "That is not all. There are rumors going around the country about a group of nobles performing blasphemous acts." The group listened quietly. Had they been discovered?

Tabitha closed her book. (1)

"I asked some people in Tristania, Tarbes, and other cities to start a rumor about the nobles traveling from town to town, looking for artifacts to experiment on. The rumor caught nicely but we still need to be careful." Siesta finished.

"…Beatrice…"

"No, I haven't had to erase her memory for a while." Louise said. It had almost been a month.

"People aren't talking about me anymore, so she could be losing interest." Guiche thought out loud.

Kirche giggled, "With the way you and Dorin look, not likely." Kirche eyed Dorin up and down. She licked her lips. Dorin blushed.

"Kirche!" Louise screamed.

"What?" Kirche asked innocently.

"Now is not the time for that!" Louise yelled, beginning to become an apple.

Guiche sighed, "Whether Beatrice has lost interest or not, we shouldn't meet again until the rumors die down." When Guiche put his mind to it, he was a good strategist.

"…bed…"

Kirche yawned, "It is late. Well, goodnight." Tabitha and Kirche left.

Dorin stretched, "Come on Siesta, we still have dishes to wash before going to bed." Siesta blushed, noticing the muscles in Dorin's arms. It took most of her strength not to scream like a fan girl and push his head into her chest.

"…R-Right." She said getting up. Dorin and Siesta left.

Louise quietly cleaned the space used for experimenting and Guiche continued to work on the pillars.

Louise blushed a little. '_He chose me…_' Louise always wondered why but never worked up the courage to ask.

Guiche finished the pillars. "Well, Goodnight, Louise." Guiche said, starting up the stairs.

"Wait!" Louise whispered, half hoping he hadn't heard her.

"Did you say something, Louise?"

"Um…Can we talk?" Louise couldn't take it anymore, she wanted to know.

"About what?" Guiche came back down the stairs and stood in front of Louise.

"…I j-just wanted t-to know…Why did y-you choose me over M-Montmoren-ncy?"

"I…" Guiche paused. Why did he choose Louise?

"Well…" Guiche started, "After the night when you preformed the Affinity spell, I started looking for corruption in the Founder religion. I noticed that the prayer for breakfast was suppose to be humble, but it could be considered a full course meal. Many nobles are saying that they follow the Founder but disregard what were supposed to do, protect people without magic."

"After I realized that, I wanted it to stop. Not for a religious reason," Guiche said quickly, "I just want magic to be used responsibly."

Louise listened quietly, "So you just want to make the world right?"

"I guess."

Louise walked quietly toward the stairs. So, he didn't choose her, just what he thought was right. At the bottom of the stairs she whispered, "Thanks, Guiche." She said before dashing up the stairs and running to her room.

Guiche just stood there. '_What was that about?_'

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

"You can't keep running from him forever." Beatrice told Montmorency. They were hiding behind a corner, waiting for the void group to leave so Beatrice could investigate. She was frustrated about not finding out anything and decided to get some help.

Montmorency wasn't her first choice. Not even her second, but nobody would help her. Beatrice eventually persuaded Montmorency to help her by telling her that she would help Montmorency in fixing her relationship with Guiche.

"I know, but…" Montmorency started but Beatrice interrupted her.

"No 'Buts'! You're better than him, more faithful, so either dump him completely or fix this!"

Montmorency knew what she was talking about: the love potion. Montmorency couldn't bring herself to dispose of it. She kept it hidden in her room. As of right now, it was in her pocket.

Beatrice and Montmorency stopped in their conversation when the door opened and Tabitha and Kirche came out. They didn't say anything, just started toward the dorms. Shortly afterward, two servants came out as well. They walked the opposite direction of Beatrice and Montmorency.

A minute later, Louise burst out of the class room and ran toward the dorms.

"What was that?" Montmorency asked.

"Don't know." _Or care_. "Guiche is the only one left in there, let's go."

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Guiche just closed the panel leading to the staircase when he heard the door open. Guiche froze when he heard a voice, "…Guiche." Turning slowly, he stared at Montmorency.

"…Yes?" Guiche's mind was racing. '_What was she doing_?' was the main question in his mind.

'_What should I do_?' was Montmorency's main question.

"Oh, for the Founder!" a new voice spoke from behind Montmorency.

Guiche's eyes widened when Beatrice came into view. Montmorency blushed slightly and turned around. She seemed to be playing with her hair again.

Beatrice walked over and whispered, "Look, she has been depressed, just kiss her and be done with it." Guiche was suspicious. This was Beatrice he was talking to.

All he had to do was kiss Montmorency? If he was the same person before Louise cast the Affinity spell, then he would be jumping for joy. Now he understood that a simple kiss could not be the answer.

Before Guiche could question Beatrice, Montmorency turned around, closed her eyes, and puckered her lips. Guiche knew something was not right. Montmorency would not just kiss and forgive, she had too much pride.

But, in the past few months, could she have changed, like him? He barely saw her anymore, and he did miss her.

Her hair.

Her laugh.

Her lips.

Guiche couldn't talk it. He stepped forward and kissed Montmorency.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Happiness filled Montmorency. Guiche was kissing her. But, she also felt a little guilty. When she turned around, she put the love potion in her mouth and held it there. Montmorency was going to make Guiche drink it and have him looking at her.

She didn't have to. She could spit out the potion and apologize. But, Guiche might cheat again, and she wanted him all to herself

Montmorency blew, pushing the potion into Guiche's mouth.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Guiche's eyes widened when he felt a liquid enter his mouth. He reflexively began to swallow before fighting instinct. He turned his head to the side and spat out some of the liquid.

"Wha…!" was all Guiche said before he remembered a rumor he heard a month ago.

_Flashback_

_Guiche was exercising with Dorin when he heard the girls all start giggling. Turning around, he noticed that they were crowding around something. Kirche turned to look that him._

"_You better be careful, there is a rumor about Montmorency." Kirche said with obvious glee. Guiche immediately started paying attention to every word._

"_What do you mean?" If Montmorency was involved he wanted to know._

_The girls just kept giggling. Dorin got up and took the piece of paper that the girls were looking at. He scanned it for a few seconds before laughing out loud. "She's right, Guiche. You better be careful. It says that Montmorency may have a love potion meant for you."_

_Siesta calmed down enough to speak. "If you do drink the potion, don't look at anybody. Otherwise, you will fall in love with them instantly." She giggled again. "And gender _doesn't_ matter!" she exclaimed before bursting into giggles again._

_Flashback end_

Quickly closing his eyes he pushed Montmorency away. Guiche stumbled forward in the general direction of the door.

"Guiche!" Montmorency said voice full of worry. Did she mess up the potion? She rushed over to him.

Guiche felt her try to stop him but he shook her off. He continued stumbling toward the door. Water hit his feet, causes him to slip and fall.

"Beatrice!" Montmorency shouted.

"What!? He's down, go to him!" Guiche heard Beatrice shout. Guiche didn't dare to open his eyes in case he looked at Montmorency or Beatrice. He didn't know what he would do if he fell in love with one of them.

People in love tended to do stupid things.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

(1) If Tabitha closes her book, S*** just got serious.

YOU TOOK THE TIME TO READ THIS!

PLEASE REVIEW IT!


	8. Bad to Worse

I'm back! Sorry about not updating for a few months. Over the Christmas Break, I got Xcom and beat it about a week ago. FUN!

**Tristain Magical Academy**

**Night before summoning**

Louise did not know why she was running. She just wanted to be alone. Slamming her door, Louise jumped, fully clothed, onto her bed. Louise lay there; face down, not understanding why she was sad.

Louise was just about to fall asleep when a growl stopped her. Flipping over, she saw the underbelly of her panther. Growling again, black mist slipped off of the underbelly of the large cat and surrounded her.

Louise saw only darkness for a moment before images began to surround her. They were blurry at first before taking the shape of the room above the '_void chamber_', as Kirche affectionately called it. The room became clearer and three human shaped images came into focus.

The first person Louise recognized when everything became clear was Guiche. He was on the ground, another shape on him. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be struggling. The shape on top of him cleared. It was a girl, Montmorency, if Louise remembered her correctly. They seemed to be arguing.

Louise gasped as Beatrice, the bane of Louise's existence, came into focus. She seemed to be looking around the back of the room. She peered around, picking up books and pieces of paper.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Guiche, affectively blind, continued to struggle under Montmorency. Montmorency was on the verge of desperation. "Guiche! Look at me!" She practically yelled.

"No!" Guiche yelled back. He twisted fiercely to the right, then left, almost succeeding in getting away. Unfortunately, Montmorency was heavier than she looked.

Beatrice scoffed after putting a book down. "You already drank the potion, just get over it already." Beatrice moved to the lone bookshelf and examined the tomes. "Besides, if you didn't have any feelings for her, you wouldn't have kissed her."

"Yeah, if you didn't have any feeling for me, why did you kiss me?"

Guiche grew still. "Did I ever say I didn't have feelings for you?" Guiche suddenly moved again, and since Montmorency was momentarily stunned, she was thrown off. Still keeping his eyes closed, he stood, though a little shakily.

Beatrice turned away from the shelf, finding nothing of interest, "If you love her Guiche, Look at her. You two would be happy together, and both would be eternally loyal."

Guiche sneered in the direction of Beatrice's voice. "Oh, I would defiantly be _loyal_. I would take Montmorency on picnics, do everything she says and look at nobody else, but it won't be me."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think would happen? I'll do everything I said, but, more likely, I'll also do horrible things."

All three females thought the exact same word, '_What?_'

"Think about it. I'll be by your side always. I'll lust after you every moment of every hour of every day. I'll try to fix any problem you have, even if it is not a problem, only if it's a problem to me. I'll try to _take_ you, Montmorency. Can you really stand the thought of me with you every minute of every day of every year?"

Montmorency was about to answer before she was cut off, "If you stop loving me, then I'll do anything to get you back. Anybody your with, I'll hate them because your with them and not _me_. Anybody that hurts you, Montmorency, I'll _kill_ them."

Montmorency was shaken by Guiche's speech. '_But, love is not that strong…is it_? Montmorency grew white when she remembered the main ingredient for her potion: The tear of a Water Spirit, the strongest ingredient she possessed.

"But that's not the end of it!" Guiche continued. "If you don't come back to me, I'll take what I love, what your potion made me love."

Beatrice's eyes grew when she hear those words. She couldn't think of a more horrid act, she did not want to. Montmorency trembled at his words. "No…that can't be it! You never do that to me! You love me!" She cried, trying to disprove that horrible future.

"Wouldn't I? Why do you think Love Potions are banned in Tristain? If you ever grow tired of me, I'll get desperate. Desperate people will do anything!" Guiche yelled, not caring anymore if other students heard him, too angry to care. "But Wait! All potions have an opposite to them. Make the antidote, Montmorency, for if you don't, eventually, I will rape you!"

Montmorency's legs grew weak and she collapsed, crying into her hands. "I didn't know!" She sobbed.

"It does not matter if you did know or not. He still has not looked at anybody yet. Make an antidote." Beatrice counseled, forgetting entirely about why she was originally there. Her worry for the other female in the room grew at her next cry. "I can't!"

Guiche's head snapped in the direction of the voice. "What? Why can't you?"

Louise watched everything in silent horror. What kind of nightmare was this? One of her only friends was being forced into becoming a slave or cripple? She wanted to escape but she also did not want to leave Guiche alone, even if everything she saw wasn't real.

Montmorency, through her sobs, told the other two about the exact ingredient she used to make the love potion and the only ingredient strong enough to counter act it. Apon hearing she used a piece of an Elemental as the main ingredient, Beatrice exploded. "Why would you do something so Stupid!?"

Guiche grew pale. The way he saw it, one of two things were going to happen to him. He would either be a slave to someone, eternally following that person and causing unneeded torment, or live the rest of his life as a blind beggar. His father detested crippled people, preaching they just took up space and precise resources. He be kicked out, and secretly erased from his family's history.

Louise paled at the explanation given by Montmorency. Her friend, one of her first friends outside of her family and their influence was about to start a life of living hell. Not if she didn't do something about it.

Louise was dreaming. She had to be.

Louise had power in her dreams.

Raising her hand, she willed a stone barrier, reaching from wall to wall, to separate Guiche from Montmorency and Beatrice. By her command, the floor shot up, sealing Beatrice and Montmorency on the other side.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Montmorency and Beatrice jumped when a wall shot up, separating them from Guiche. Beatrice, thinking Guiche got his wand, started shouting at him to let her out, pounding the flat part of her fist against the wall. Montmorency, thinking Guiche would never forgive her, cried harder, shouting her despair for the world to hear.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Guiche something in front of him _shift_. He raised his hand slowly, trying to feel and hear what was going on around him. To his astonishment he felt stone in front of him. Still investigating he brought his left hand across the stone seeing if it ended.

He could hear Beatrice yelling at him to lower the stone and feel something pounding against the wall. He also heard Montmorency crying in anguish. He didn't know what happened, but he knew the door was behind him. He needed to escape before Beatrice or Montmorency got to him. Guiche would deal with the problem of his family later. Guiche turned in the direction he thought the door was located and took two steps before a voice made him stop.

"Guiche…" He spun on the spot.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Professor Cobalt was in his lab when he heard shouting. Acting quickly, he collected his staff woke his Colleagues. The other professors did not believe Cobalt until Montmorency's shout of despair reverberated around the castle. Cobalt left his coworkers to gather their wands and any other items they might need while he ran toward the disturbance. Montmorency's shout has awakened some memories in Cobalt.

A village burned beyond ash. A false order, fulfilled.

He would not let anything happen.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Louise watched Guiche feel the wall before turning away. Louise felt a small ache inside her chest. She considered Guiche as her best friend, maybe something more. In the last meeting, she barely speaks to Guiche without the ache becoming more painful.

This was her dream, right? She could do anything she wanted…right? "Guiche…" she whispered, unsure of what to do.

Louise believed that Guiche could not see or hear her, for surely Beatrice and Montmorency would have acted when she appeared in the room. So imagine Louise's surprise when Guiche spun around.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

"Louise?" Guiche wondered. How did she get here? He never heard the door open. He stretched his left hand out, feeling the air in front of him.

Louise grabbed it with her right. With her left hand, Louise brought her hand to Guiche face, touching the check below his right eye. "Sorry Guiche."

Guiche grimaced. "What do you mean? You were not the idiot who blinded himself."

Guiche jumped when the door burst open. He lost hold of Louise's hand.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Tabitha, after the many attempts on her life, never really slept; more like rested. She "awoke" when Guiche shouted. Not leaving anything to chance, she gathered her staff, cast a silence spell on her feet and sprinted down the corridor, reaching the unused classroom in minutes, still in her night gown.

Summoning a simple wind, she sent it under the door, and amplified the sound inside to clear hearing levels. She wouldn't burst inside yet, years of following her survival instinct controlling her actions.

"…ed a tear!" someone cried. It sounded like Montmorency. Tabitha paused. A tear? Of what? For what?

"Good, it's something weak." Another voice said. That voice sounded like Beatrice. Tabitha tensed, ready to spring into the room if they suspected anything.

A third voice stopped her, one she was not expecting. "She would not be crying if the tear she used was weak, Beatrice." Guiche's voice said.

Was Guiche a traitor? Did he start the rumors? "What creature did you get the '_tear_' from, Montmorency?" Guiche's voice asked.

Montmorency cried harder and shouted, "A water spirit!"

"Why would you do something so Stupid!?" Beatrice's voice shouted. Tabitha pondered whether a silence spell will help matters. Before she could conclude and answer, Tabitha heard something _shift_ inside the room.

Beatrice's voice shouted something, but it was muffled, like they went behind a barrier. Strangely, Montmorency's voice seemed to be louder. Tabitha stood to enter the room before a fourth voice stopped her. "Guiche…" Louise's voice whispered.

Tabitha really needed to get inside now. She could hear footsteps coming towards them. Tabitha trusted Louise. She was in the middle of this entire _blasphemy_ and wouldn't do anything to get caught. So if Louise was there, maybe Guiche was not up to anything. But why were Montmorency and Beatrice there? "Louise?" Guiche's voice sounded surprised.

"Sorry Guiche."

"What do you mean? You were not the idiot who blinded himself."

Tabitha's shock outweighed her instinct. Guiche was blind? The footsteps became louder, snapping Tabitha out of her daze.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Cobalt ran down the hall. The screaming was louder, probably in the next corridor. Students, woken by the yelling, milled about. Some stood there, not knowing what to do while others ran with the professor.

The most prominent student was Kirche. She was actually running a little ahead of everybody else. She was still behind Cobalt but noticeable faster than the others.

Turning a corner, Cobalt and the students saw Tabitha standing next to a door. Tabitha raised her staff and blasted the door with wind. The door swung on its hinges, slamming the other side of the wall.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Tabitha blasted the door open and stopped dead. The sight in front of her was _not_ what she was expecting.

Guiche, tense, facing the door, hands outstretched for balance.

Louise was, again, different. She was transparent, a gray substance surrounding her like a skin tight dress. Small wisps broke off and dissolving into thin air, similar to the flame of a camp fire. Louise stared at Tabitha, first with shock and fear, then in relief.

The footsteps behind Tabitha sounded like their owner was several meters from the door. The gray_ flame_ around Louise glowed slightly before Louise disappeared.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Cobalt rushed into the classroom shortly after Tabitha. Kirche followed next, heading to the right and leaving the door open for students to peer inside. Examining the room with the speed of a highly trained military official, he noted the expression of shock on Guiche's face, even thought his eyes were closed. He noted the wall behind Guiche, the sounds of someone pounding on the other side, demanding to get out.

He heard the sound of despair, rarely heard _off_ the battle field. Cobalt started investigating based on three things: who he saw, the reputation of the people he saw and the actions those people seemed to be doing when caught.

First: who he saw.

"Styx! Come here!" Cobalt voice was cold and unforgiving, never taking his eyes off of Guiche. Cobalt noted Guiche flinch. '_Just great_' Guiche thought, '_like I need more problems_.'

A student entered the room. "Yes, Professor?"

"Lower the wall." Cobalt commanded. He would do it himself but gathering more information on the people involved was his top priority. Styx pulled out his wand and flicked it.

Nothing happened.

"Styx!" Cobalt shouted.

"Sorry, Professor!" Styx flicked his wand again, pouring more power into the spell. The wall slowly started to move down. Cobalt, as well as the students that could see, wondered why Styx was acting so slowly. He was a line class mage and a simple stone wall should not be any problem.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Louise jumped back in shock as the door banged open. She looked to see Tabitha standing there. Tabitha looked shocked to see Louise before blinking several times.

"Tabi-" Louise started, instinctively preparing to kneel when another person ran in. Professor Cobalt looked around briefly, his eyes passing over Louise without registering her, before calling for a student unknown to Louise. "Styx!"

A student entered the room. "Yes, Professor?"

"Lower the wall."

The student, Styx, pulled out his wand and flicked it. Nothing happened.

"Styx!" Cobalt shouted.

"Sorry, Professor!" The student shouted. The wall slowly began to lower.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

'_Finally_.' Beatrice thought as the wall lowered. The side of Beatrice's hand was bleeding where she smacked the wall. She now cradled it as a baby that was in danger.

Montmorency's cries stopped when the wall lowered. A small part of her thought that maybe Guiche would forgive her. Another part still thought he was beyond mad and wanted to hurt her. The strain of the night, as well as the emotional turmoil took its tool and Montmorency fainted.

Beatrice stared at her for a second before a plan formed in her head. A perfect plan to ruin Guiche and gain popularity for herself.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Kirche stood to the right of the room, near the hidden door that lead to the void chamber. She rushed ahead of the group trying to get there first but her teacher was too fast. Now she waited, ready to divert attention away from this area in case she needed to.

The wall lowered enough for Beatrice to come into view. She seemed to be kneeling next to something. Her right hand was cradled in her chest, blood running down her arm. Her left hand held her wand; she was waving it back and forth.

Several people gasped when the body of Montmorency became visible. Montmorency was pale, blood becoming apparent around her mouth.

Cobalt rushed to the two girls, first checking Montmorency and then Beatrice. Finding both fine he began the interrogation.

"Guiche, come here, Now!" Cobalt's shout startled Guiche before he stumbled forward. "Open your eyes!" Cobalt shouted, not in the mood for any games.

"I can't sir." Guiche said.

"And why not?"

"Though my own faults, I have effectively blinded myself." The students gasped at the words. Cobalt demanded everybody but Guiche and Beatrice to leave. When the door was closed, Cobalt cast a silence spell on the door. He fumed silently before turning to Beatrice.

"Talk." He said.

Guiche opened his mouth, thinking Cobalt was still talking to him. "Not You!" Cobalt hissed. Guiche stopped.

"Beatrice." Guiche paled. This cannot be good.

Beatrice, in her quest for popularity, had developed excellent acting skills. "S-sir, G-guiche invited us he-ere…"

"Stop lying." Guiche said, calmly. Shouting would only dig himself a bigger hole.

Beatrice 'paled' and shrunk back slightly, whimpering.

"Guiche!" Cobalt shouted. "I'll hear your side of this _after_ Beatrice!" Guiche stayed quiet. It seemed even talking would hurt him.

"Continue."

"…w-when we a-arrived, he-e at-tacked us." Beatrice pushed her hand against her chest, the throb of it causing tears to come to her eyes. A convincing act.

Cobalt was livid. Snapping his head to Guiche, he growled out, "And what do _you_ say happened, Guiche?" Guiche didn't know what to say. The truth was out, again, but what lie would be better then Beatrice's?

Cobalt watched Guiche, examining his face for clues of the truth. Cobalt saw the sweat on Guiche's face, and his eyes flicking back and forth behind his eyelids. Cobalt was about to demand an answer but a moan stopped him.

Montmorency stirred on the ground. She opened her eyes, first seeing Beatrice, then professor Cobalt. She seemed confused until she spotted Guiche.

The question in her eyes turned to fear. Fear of losing him. Tears came to her eyes and she whimpered quietly.

Cobalt saw the fear and misunderstood. Montmorency's fear confirmed Beatrice's story. Standing, he cast a small explosion inside both of Guiche's ears, effectively knocking him out.

! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# ! #$%^&*()(*&^%$# !

Reveiw! Normally people have Guiche act like a prick and he gets knocked down a few pegs. Me...Well I'm doing something a little more drastic.

REVEIW PLEASE!


End file.
